Emergence of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Virus Variant With Novel Genomic Architecture in Hong Kong

Abstract

Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, divergent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineages have emerged continuously, mostly through the genomic accumulation of substitutions. We report the discovery of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with a novel genomic architecture characterized by absent ORF7a, ORF7b, and ORF8, and a C-terminally modified ORF6 product resulting from partial 5'-untranslated region (UTR) duplication and transposition.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; genomic rearrangement; whole-genome sequencing.