Phylogeny of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus with the sequences available in Nextstrain on March 14, 2020. The arrows indicate the lineages of the viruses isolated in València.

The coordinated work of virologists, epidemiologists and bioinformaticians has allowed us to obtain the first genome sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from two patients at the Hospital University Clinic of Valencia. Researchers and technicians from the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio, joint University of Valencia-CSIC center) and the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community (FISABIO) participate in the project.

The authors of the work, carried out by the Sequencing and Bioinformatics Service of FISABIO and by the Molecular Epidemiology research group of the I2SysBio, led by Fernando González-Candelas, professor of Genetics at the University of Valencia, made public on Friday afternoon, March 13, the genome of two samples of the emerging coronavirus isolated by the Microbiology Service of the Hospital Clínic Universitari de València. The information was deposited in the Initiative database GISAID and is now available to the entire scientific community. The data can also be consulted on Nextstrain a platform that allows you to visualize the spatial and temporal progression of the pandemic based on the more than 400 genomes from 40 different countries that have already been deposited since last December.

Knowing in detail the viral genomes as they mutate is essential to design and evaluate diagnostic tests and to follow the outbreak epidemic live, as it progresses, something that was not technically possible very few years ago. Studying the evolution of the virus and how it spreads in the population is essential to fight the epidemic. For their study, which will continue with the sequencing of more genomes, the Valencian group has benefited from its extensive experience in molecular epidemiology and third-generation sequencing techniques, based on nanopores.

In statements to the SINC agency, Fernando González-Candelas has acknowledged that they have been able to measure the rate of mutations of the virus, which is lower than that of the flu, but that there is still not enough data to know if the transmission capacity or aggressiveness of the virus is changing. pathogen.

Fernando González-Candelas leads the Molecular Epidemiology research group integrated into the I2SysBio Pathogen Systems Biology Program, which also includes the Viral Biology, Experimental Evolution of Viruses, Evolutionary Systems Virology and Bacterial Pathogenomics groups. González-Candelas' group is also part of the Joint Evolution and Health Unit, FISABIO-Universitat de València.

Through social networks, the I2SysBio research groups have offered their material and personal equipment to the health authorities of the Generalitat Valenciana. Likewise, they participate in initiatives at the state level, such as the one led by the CSIC, to confront the new coronavirus pandemic.

More information

• FISABIO sequencing and bioinformatics service
• FISABIO
• Hospital Clínic Universitari de València
• I2SysBio Groups:
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Viral Biology
  • Experimental Evolution of Viruses
  • Virology Evolutionary and Systems
  • Bacterial Pathogenomics

SOURCE: Mónica G. Salomone for SINC Agency