title: Recombination, reservoirs, and the modular spike: mechanisms of coronavirus cross-species transmission.
abstract: Over the past 30 years, several cross-species transmission events, as well as changes in virus tropism, have mediated significant animal and human diseases. Most notable is severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a lower respiratory tract disease of humans that was first reported in late 2002 in Guangdong Province, China. The disease, which quickly spread worldwide over a period of 4 months spanning late 2002 and early 2003, infected over 8,000 individuals and killed nearly 800 before it was successfully contained by aggressive public health intervention strategies. A coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was identified as the etiological agent of SARS, and initial assessments determined that the virus crossed to human hosts from zoonotic reservoirs, including bats, Himalayan palm civets (Paguma larvata), and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), sold in exotic animal markets in Guangdong Province. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms that govern coronavirus cross-species transmission both in vitro and in vivo, using the emergence of SARS-CoV as a model. We pay particular attention to how changes in the Spike attachment protein, both within and outside of the receptor binding domain, mediate the emergence of coronaviruses in new host populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2105D McGaveran Greenberg Hall, CB7, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Ralph S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Baric
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000821:virology*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D000085064:Receptors, Coronavirus; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000502:physiology; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000235:genetics*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000635:transmission*; D013045:Species Specificity; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D056189:Viral Tropism
chemical_list: D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D000085064:Receptors, Coronavirus; D011991:Receptors, Virus; D064370:Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins