Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses circulating in bats and pangolins in Southeast Asia
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 9 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 12 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21240-1
Abstract
Among the many questions unanswered for the COVID-19 pandemic are the origin of SARS-CoV-2 and the potential role of intermediate animal host(s) in the early animal-to-human transmission. The discovery of RaTG13 bat coronavirus in China suggested a high probability of a bat origin. Here we report molecular and serological evidence of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses (SC2r-CoVs) actively circulating in bats in Southeast Asia. Whole genome sequences were obtained from five independent bats (Rhinolophus acuminatus) in a Thai cave yielding a single isolate (named RacCS203) which is most related to the RmYN02 isolate found in Rhinolophus malayanus in Yunnan, China. SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were also detected in bats of the same colony and in a pangolin at a wildlife checkpoint in Southern Thailand. Antisera raised against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of RmYN02 was able to cross-neutralize SARS-CoV-2 despite the fact that the RBD of RacCS203 or RmYN02 failed to bind ACE2. Although the origin of the virus remains unresolved, our study extended the geographic distribution of genetically diverse SC2r-CoVs from Japan and China to Thailand over a 4800-km range. Cross-border surveillance is urgently needed to find the immediate progenitor virus of SARS-CoV-2.Keywords
Funding Information
- MOH | National Medical Research Council (COVID19RF-003, STPRG-FY19-001)
- National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF2016NRF-NSFC002-013)
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Duration of Maternal Antibodies against Canine Distemper Virus and Hendra Virus in Pteropid BatsPLOS ONE, 2013
- Identification of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-Like Virus in a Leaf-Nosed Bat in NigeriamBio, 2010
- Bat Coronaviruses and Experimental Infection of Bats, the PhilippinesEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2010
- Immunoglobulin heavy chain diversity in Pteropid bats: evidence for a diverse and highly specific antigen binding repertoireImmunogenetics, 2010
- Identification of mosquito bloodmeals using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b gene sequencesMedical and Veterinary Entomology, 2008
- Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-Like CoronavirusesScience, 2005
- Isolation and Characterization of Viruses Related to the SARS Coronavirus from Animals in Southern ChinaScience, 2003
- Nipah Virus Infection in Bats (Order Chiroptera) in Peninsular MalaysiaEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2001
- Nipah Virus Infection in Bats (Order Chiroptera) in Peninsular MalaysiaEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2001
- Serologic Evidence for the Presence in Pteropus Bats of a Paramyxovirus Related to Equine MorbillivirusEmerging Infectious Diseases, 1996