2021年8月16日来自英国的研究团队在Cell期刊在线发表了题为“Generation and transmission of inter-lineage recombinants in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic”的研究论文，描述了新冠病毒（SARS-CoV-2，或2019-nCoV）大流行中跨系重组体的产生和传播。

    研究人员从2020年底和2021年初在英国采集的样本中找到了多个独立来源的SARS-CoV-2重组病毒的证据。这些新冠病毒基因组带有单核苷酸多态性和缺失——即英国B.1.1.7变体的特征，但缺乏B.1.1.7变体完整的谱系定义突变（lineage-defining mutations）。相反，这些SARS-CoV-2重组病毒基因组的其余部分与同时在同一地理区域内流通的非B.1.1.7病毒变体（non-B.1.1.7 variant）共享连续的遗传变异。有证据表明重组病毒会继续传播，其中包括一个在由45个测序病例组成的传播群。推断出的重组断点的基因组位置表明，每个社区传播的重组病毒都从B.1.1.7亲代病毒(parental virus)中继承了其刺突蛋白区域序列，这与B.1.1.7变体的一系列突变的传播优势相一致。

摘要 Summary

We present evidence for multiple independent origins of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 viruses sampled from late 2020 and early 2021 in the United Kingdom. Their genomes carry single nucleotide polymorphisms and deletions that are characteristic of the B.1.1.7 variant of concern, but lack the full complement of lineage-defining mutations. Instead, the remainder of their genomes share contiguous genetic variation with non-B.1.1.7 viruses circulating in the same geographic area at the same time as the recombinants. In four instances there was evidence for onward transmission of a recombinant-origin virus, including one transmission cluster of 45 sequenced cases over the course of two months. The inferred genomic locations of recombination breakpoints suggest that every community-transmitted recombinant virus inherited its spike region from a B.1.1.7 parental virus, consistent with a transmission advantage for B.1.1.7’s set of mutations.

关键词 Key Words

SARS-CoV-2; genomics; evolution; recombination; genomic epidemiology; B.1.1.7; variants.

亮点 Highlights:

•  We find evidence for recombination in SARS-CoV-2

•  We identify 8 clear recombination events 4 of which lead to onward transmission

•  Estimated breakpoints are consistent with coronavirus cellular replication dynamics

•  Transmitted recombinants inherited the more-transmissible B.1.1.7 Spike gene

作者 Authors：Ben Jackson, Maciej F. Boni, Matthew J. Bull, Amy Colleran, Rachel M. Colquhoun, Alistair C. Darby, Sam Haldenby, Verity Hill, Anita Lucaci, John T. McCrone, Samuel M. Nicholls, áine O’Toole, Nicole Pacchiarini, Radoslaw Poplawski, Emily Scher, Flora Todd, Hermione J. Webster, Mark Whitehead, Andrew Rambaut

原文链接：

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.014

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00984-3