SARS-COV-2 genomic monitoring in the state of São Paulo unveils two emerging AY.43 sublineages.
Alex Ranieri Jerônimo LimaGabriela RibeiroVincent Louis VialaLoyze Paola Oliveira de LimaAntonio Jorge MartinsClaudia Renata Dos Santos BarrosElaine Cristina MarquezeJardelina de Souza Todao BernardinoDebora Botequio MorettiEvandra Strazza RodriguesElaine Vieira SantosRicardo Augusto BrassalotiRaquel de Lello Rocha Campos CassanoPilar Drummond Sampaio Corrêa MarianiLuan Gaspar ClementePatricia Akemi AssatoFelipe Allan da Silva da CostaMirele Daiana PoletiJessika Cristina Chagas LesbonElisangela Chicaroni MattosCecilia Artico BanhoLívia SacchettoMarília Mazzi MoraesMelissa PalmieriMaiara MartininghiLuiz Artur Vieira CaldeiraFabiana Erica Vilanova da SilvaRejane Maria Tommasini GrottoJayme A Souza-NetoMarta GiovanettiLuiz Carlos Junior AlcantaraMauricio Lacerda NogueiraHeidge FukumasuLuiz Lehmann CoutinhoSimone KashimaRaul Machado NetoDimas Tadeu CovasSvetoslav Nanev SlavovSandra Coccuzzo SampaioMaria Carolina EliasPublished in: Journal of medical virology (2022)
Delta VOC is highly diverse with more than 120 sublineages already described as of November 30, 2021. In this study, through active monitoring of circulating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants in the state of São Paulo, southeast Brazil, we identified two emerging sublineages from the ancestral AY.43 strain which were classified as AY.43.1 and AY.43.2. These sublineages were defined by the following characteristic nonsynonymous mutations ORF1ab:A4133V and ORF3a:T14I for the AY.43.1 and ORF1ab:G1155C for the AY.43.2 and our analysis reveals that they might have a likely-Brazilian origin. Much is still unknown regarding their dissemination in the state of São Paulo and Brazil as well as their potential impact on the ongoing vaccination process. However, the results obtained in this study reinforce the importance of genomic surveillance activity for timely identification of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants which can impact the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and public health policies.