Following the worldwide emergence of the p.Asp614Gly shift in the Spike (S) gene of SARS-CoV-2, there have been few recurring pathogenic shifts occurring during 2020, as assessed by genomic sequencing. This situation has evolved in the last several months with the emergence of several distinct variants (first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa) that manifest multiple changes in the S gene, particularly p.Asn501Tyr (N501Y), that likely have clinical impact. We report here the emergence in Columbus, Ohio in December 2020 of two novel SARS-CoV-2 clade 20G variants. One variant, that has become the predominant virus found in nasopharyngeal swabs in the December 2020-January 2021 period, harbors S p.Gln677His (Q677H), affecting a consensus QTQTN domain near the S1/S2 furin cleavage site, nucleocapsid (N) p.Asp377Tyr (D377Y) and membrane glycoprotein (M) p.Ala85Ser (A85S) mutations, with additional S mutations in subsets. The other variant present in two samples, contains S N501Y, which is a marker of the UK-B.1.1.7 (clade 20I/501Y.V1) strain, but lacks all other mutations from that virus. The Ohio variant is from a different clade and shares multiple mutations with the clade 20G viruses circulating in the area prior to December 2020. These two SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which we show are also present and evolving currently in several other parts of North America, add to the diversity of S gene shifts occurring worldwide. These and other shifts in this period of the pandemic support multiple independent acquisition of functionally significant and potentially complementing mutations affecting the S QTQTN site (Q675H or Q677H) and certain receptor binding domain mutations (e.g., E484K and N501Y).

中文翻译：

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俄亥俄州哥伦布市临床样本中SARS-CoV-2穗状变体（包括N501Y）的独特模式

根据基因组测序评估，在SARS-CoV-2的Spike（S）基因中出现p.Asp614Gly转移之后，到2020年几乎没有发生复发性病原性转移。在过去的几个月中，这种情况已经发生了演变，出现了几个不同的变体（在英国和南非首次发现），这些变体表现出S基因的多个变化，尤其是p.Asn501Tyr（N501Y），可能具有临床影响。我们在这里报告2020年12月在俄亥俄州哥伦布市出现了两种新型SARS-CoV-2进化枝20G变体。一个变种已成为2020年12月至2021年1月期间在鼻咽拭子中发现的主要病毒，带有S p.Gln677His（Q677H），影响了S1 / S2弗林蛋白酶切割位点附近的共有QTQTN结构域，核衣壳（N）p 。Asp377Tyr（D377Y）和膜糖蛋白（M）p.Ala85Ser（A85S）突变，在子集中还有其他S突变。存在于两个样品中的另一个变体包含S N501Y，它是UK-B.1.1.7（clad 20I / 501Y.V1）菌株的标记，但缺少该病毒的所有其他突变。俄亥俄变种来自不同的进化枝，并与2020年12月之前在该地区传播的进化枝20G病毒共享多个突变。我们展示的这两种SARS-CoV-2病毒也在北部的其他地区存在并正在发展美国，增加了全球范围内发生的S基因转移的多样性。