SARS-CoV-2

Description

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus has emerged as a major challenge to mankind and declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The SARS-CoV-2 virus is zoonotic in its origin and capable of jumping from its natural host, bats, to other species, including humans. Phylogenetic analyses of viral genome sequences have indicated that it closely resembles SARS-like coronavirus strain Bat CovRaTG13. The novel coronavirus is made up of a Nucleocapsid Protein (N), Spike Proteins (S), Envelope Protein (E) and the Membrane Protein (M). The structures of only S-protein and N-protein have being solved experimentally. The S-protein is the most critical one as it binds to the host cell receptor thus enables the virus to enter the host cell. Specifically, both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 belong to β-coronaviruses, and are known to bind to angiotensin-converting Enzyme Receptor 2 (ACE2) in the host.

Genome and Proteins

Structure Statistics

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