Bat Coronavirus Rc-o319 Found in Japan: New Relative of SARS-CoV-2
This study tells us there’re other undiscovered bat coronaviruses, even outside of China.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a study from Japan, titled “Detection and Characterization of Bat Sarbecovirus Phylogenetically Related to SARS-CoV-2, Japan,” this month. In this study, a new bat coronavirus called Rc-o319 is discovered, which belongs to the same evolutionary clade as SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13. This article will discuss the significance of this finding.
(SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. RaTG13 is a bat coronavirus that is the closest known relative of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 belong to the coronavirus's beta genus under the sarbecovirus clade — betacoronavirus, sarbecovirus. So, Rc-o319, RaTG13, and SARS-CoV-2 will be called sarbecoviruses from now.)
The study’s rationale
Horseshoe bats of the Rhinolophus species are infamous for being reservoirs of betacoronaviruses. RaTG13 is one such bat sarbecovirus that is 96% identical to SARS-CoV-2 at the genetic level. Current evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 evolved from a common ancestor of RaTG13.
