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1. Identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli genes contributing to oxidative stress response using TraDIS analysis

Author: Emily Stoakes, Xuanlin Chen, Lajos Kalmar, Dave Baker, Rhiannon Evans, Steven Rudder, and Andrew J. Grant
Subjects: Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, TraDIS, Oxidative stress, Aerobic stress, Microbiology, QR1-502
Abstract: Abstract Background Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are the major causative agents of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and are known obligate microaerophiles. Despite being sensitive to oxygen and its reduction products, both species are readily isolated from animal food products kept under atmospheric conditions where they face high oxygen tension levels. Results In this study, Transposon Directed Insertion-site Sequencing (TraDIS) was used to investigate the ability of one C. jejuni strain and two C. coli strains to overcome oxidative stress, using H2O2 to mimic oxidative stress. Genes were identified that were required for oxidative stress resistance for each individual strain but also allowed a comparison across the three strains. Mutations in the perR and ahpC genes were found to increase Campylobacter tolerance to H2O2. The roles of these proteins in oxidative stress were previously known in C. jejuni, but this data indicates that they most likely play a similar role in C. coli. Mutation of czcD decreased Campylobacter tolerance to H2O2. The role of CzcD, which functions as a zinc exporter, has not previously been linked to oxidative stress. The TraDIS data was confirmed using defined deletions of perR and czcD in C. coli 15-537360. Conclusions This is the first study to investigate gene fitness in both C. jejuni and C. coli under oxidative stress conditions and highlights both similar roles for certain genes for both species and highlights other genes that have a role under oxidative stress.
Published: 2024
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2. Comparative genomics of Campylobacter jejuni from clinical campylobacteriosis stool specimens

Author: Bilal Djeghout, Samuel J. Bloomfield, Steven Rudder, Ngozi Elumogo, Alison E. Mather, John Wain, and Nicol Janecko
Subjects: Campylobacter jejuni, Genomic diversity, Campylobacteriosis, Pangenomics, Diseases of the digestive system. Gastroenterology, RC799-869
Abstract: Abstract Background Campylobacter jejuni is a pervasive pathogen of major public health concern with a complex ecology requiring accurate and informative approaches to define pathogen diversity during outbreak investigations. Source attribution analysis may be confounded if the genetic diversity of a C. jejuni population is not adequately captured in a single specimen. The aim of this study was to determine the genomic diversity of C. jejuni within individual stool specimens from four campylobacteriosis patients. Direct plating and pre-culture filtration of one stool specimen per patient was used to culture multiple isolates per stool specimen. Whole genome sequencing and pangenome level analysis were used to investigate genomic diversity of C. jejuni within a patient. Results A total 92 C. jejuni isolates were recovered from four patients presenting with gastroenteritis. The number of isolates ranged from 13 to 30 per patient stool. Three patients yielded a single C. jejuni multilocus sequence type: ST-21 (n = 26, patient 4), ST-61 (n = 30, patient 1) and ST-2066 (n = 23, patient 2). Patient 3 was infected with two different sequence types [ST-51 (n = 12) and ST-354 (n = 1)]. Isolates belonging to the same sequence type from the same patient specimen shared 12–43 core non-recombinant SNPs and 0–20 frameshifts with each other, and the pangenomes of each sequence type consisted of 1406–1491 core genes and 231–264 accessory genes. However, neither the mutation nor the accessory genes were connected to a specific functional gene category. Conclusions Our findings show that the C. jejuni population recovered from an individual patient’s stool are genetically diverse even within the same ST and may have shared common ancestors before specimens were obtained. The population is unlikely to have evolved from a single isolate at the time point of initial patient infection, leading us to conclude that patients were likely infected with a heterogeneous C. jejuni population. The diversity of the C. jejuni population found within individual stool specimens can inform future methodological approaches to attribution and outbreak investigations.
Published: 2022
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3. Fecal microbiota transfer between young and aged mice reverses hallmarks of the aging gut, eye, and brain

Author: Aimée Parker, Stefano Romano, Rebecca Ansorge, Asmaa Aboelnour, Gwenaelle Le Gall, George M. Savva, Matthew G. Pontifex, Andrea Telatin, David Baker, Emily Jones, David Vauzour, Steven Rudder, L. Ashley Blackshaw, Glen Jeffery, and Simon R. Carding
Subjects: Aging, Microbiota, Gut–brain axis, Gut–retina, Intestine, Fecal microbiota transplantation, Microbial ecology, QR100-130
Abstract: Abstract Background Altered intestinal microbiota composition in later life is associated with inflammaging, declining tissue function, and increased susceptibility to age-associated chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative dementias. Here, we tested the hypothesis that manipulating the intestinal microbiota influences the development of major comorbidities associated with aging and, in particular, inflammation affecting the brain and retina. Methods Using fecal microbiota transplantation, we exchanged the intestinal microbiota of young (3 months), old (18 months), and aged (24 months) mice. Whole metagenomic shotgun sequencing and metabolomics were used to develop a custom analysis workflow, to analyze the changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolic potential. Effects of age and microbiota transfer on the gut barrier, retina, and brain were assessed using protein assays, immunohistology, and behavioral testing. Results We show that microbiota composition profiles and key species enriched in young or aged mice are successfully transferred by FMT between young and aged mice and that FMT modulates resulting metabolic pathway profiles. The transfer of aged donor microbiota into young mice accelerates age-associated central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, retinal inflammation, and cytokine signaling and promotes loss of key functional protein in the eye, effects which are coincident with increased intestinal barrier permeability. Conversely, these detrimental effects can be reversed by the transfer of young donor microbiota. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the aging gut microbiota drives detrimental changes in the gut–brain and gut–retina axes suggesting that microbial modulation may be of therapeutic benefit in preventing inflammation-related tissue decline in later life. Video abstract Graphical abstract
Published: 2022
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4. Long-read sequencing for identification of insertion sites in large transposon mutant libraries

Author: Muhammad Yasir, A. Keith Turner, Martin Lott, Steven Rudder, David Baker, Sarah Bastkowski, Andrew J. Page, Mark A. Webber, and Ian G. Charles
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: Abstract Transposon insertion site sequencing (TIS) is a powerful method for associating genotype to phenotype. However, all TIS methods described to date use short nucleotide sequence reads which cannot uniquely determine the locations of transposon insertions within repeating genomic sequences where the repeat units are longer than the sequence read length. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a TIS method using Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology that generates and uses long nucleotide sequence reads; we have called this method LoRTIS (Long-Read Transposon Insertion-site Sequencing). LoRTIS enabled the unique localisation of transposon insertion sites within long repetitive genetic elements of E. coli, such as the transposase genes of insertion sequences and copies of the ~ 5 kb ribosomal RNA operon. We demonstrate that LoRTIS is reproducible, gives comparable results to short-read TIS methods for essential genes, and better resolution around repeat elements. The Oxford Nanopore sequencing device that we used is cost-effective, small and easily portable. Thus, LoRTIS is an efficient means of uniquely identifying transposon insertion sites within long repetitive genetic elements and can be easily transported to, and used in, laboratories that lack access to expensive DNA sequencing facilities.
Published: 2022
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5. CoronaHiT: high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes

Author: Dave J. Baker, Alp Aydin, Thanh Le-Viet, Gemma L. Kay, Steven Rudder, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Ana P. Tedim, Anastasia Kolyva, Maria Diaz, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Lizzie Meadows, Andrew Bell, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Alexander J. Trotter, Nicholas M. Thomson, Rachel Gilroy, Luke Griffith, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Rachael Stanley, Ian G. Charles, Ngozi Elumogo, John Wain, Reenesh Prakash, Emma Meader, Alison E. Mather, Mark A. Webber, Samir Dervisevic, Andrew J. Page, and Justin O’Grady
Subjects: SARS-CoV-2, Nanopore, Sequencing, NGS, Genome, Genetic, Medicine, Genetics, QH426-470
Abstract: Abstract We present CoronaHiT, a platform and throughput flexible method for sequencing SARS-CoV-2 genomes (≤ 96 on MinION or > 96 on Illumina NextSeq) depending on changing requirements experienced during the pandemic. CoronaHiT uses transposase-based library preparation of ARTIC PCR products. Method performance was demonstrated by sequencing 2 plates containing 95 and 59 SARS-CoV-2 genomes on nanopore and Illumina platforms and comparing to the ARTIC LoCost nanopore method. Of the 154 samples sequenced using all 3 methods, ≥ 90% genome coverage was obtained for 64.3% using ARTIC LoCost, 71.4% using CoronaHiT-ONT and 76.6% using CoronaHiT-Illumina, with almost identical clustering on a maximum likelihood tree. This protocol will aid the rapid expansion of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing globally.
Published: 2021
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6. Genomic epidemiology and the role of international and regional travel in the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Zimbabwe: a retrospective study of routinely collected surveillance data

Author: Tapfumanei Mashe, MSc, Faustinos Tatenda Takawira, MSc, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, PhD, Muchaneta Gudza-Mugabe, PhD, Joconiah Chirenda, PhD, Manes Munyanyi, MSc, Blessmore V Chaibva, MPH, Andrew Tarupiwa, MSc, Hlanai Gumbo, MSc, Agnes Juru, MSc, Charles Nyagupe, MSc, Vurayai Ruhanya, MSc, Isaac Phiri, MPH, Portia Manangazira, MPH, Alexander Goredema, MSc, Sydney Danda, MSc, Israel Chabata, MSc, Janet Jonga, MSc, Rutendo Munharira, MSc, Kudzai Masunda, MPH, Innocent Mukeredzi, MSc, Douglas Mangwanya, MSc, Alex Trotter, PhD, Thanh Le Viet, PhD, Steven Rudder, MSc, Gemma Kay, PhD, David Baker, BSc, Gaetan Thilliez, PhD, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, PhD, Justin O'Grady, PhD, Maxwell Hove, PhD, Sekesai Mutapuri-Zinyowera, PhD, Andrew J Page, PhD, Robert A Kingsley, ProfPhD, and Gibson Mhlanga, MPH
Subjects: Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
Abstract: Summary: Background: Advances in SARS-CoV-2 sequencing have enabled identification of new variants, tracking of its evolution, and monitoring of its spread. We aimed to use whole genome sequencing to describe the molecular epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and to inform the implementation of effective public health interventions for control in Zimbabwe. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of nasopharyngeal samples collected from nine laboratories in Zimbabwe between March 20 and Oct 16, 2020. Samples were taken as a result of quarantine procedures for international arrivals or to test for infection in people who were symptomatic or close contacts of positive cases. Samples that had a cycle threshold of less than 30 in the diagnostic PCR test were processed for sequencing. We began our analysis in July, 2020 (120 days since the first case), with a follow-up in October, 2020 (at 210 days since the first case). The phylogenetic relationship of the genome sequences within Zimbabwe and global samples was established using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Findings: Of 92 299 nasopharyngeal samples collected during the study period, 8099 were PCR-positive and 328 were available for sequencing, with 156 passing sequence quality control. 83 (53%) of 156 were from female participants. At least 26 independent introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into Zimbabwe in the first 210 days were associated with 12 global lineages. 151 (97%) of 156 had the Asp614Gly mutation in the spike protein. Most cases, 93 (60%), were imported from outside Zimbabwe. Community transmission was reported 6 days after the onset of the outbreak. Interpretation: Initial public health interventions delayed onset of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission after the introduction of the virus from international and regional migration in Zimbabwe. Global whole genome sequence data are essential to reveal major routes of spread and guide intervention strategies. Funding: WHO, Africa CDC, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, and Genome Research Limited.
Published: 2021
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7. The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells

Author: Thushan I. de Silva, Guihai Liu, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Danning Dong, Shona C. Moore, Nienyun Sharon Hsu, Dhruv Shah, Dannielle Wellington, Alexander J. Mentzer, Adrienn Angyal, Rebecca Brown, Matthew D. Parker, Zixi Ying, Xuan Yao, Lance Turtle, Susanna Dunachie, Mala K. Maini, Graham Ogg, Julian C. Knight, Yanchun Peng, Sarah L. Rowland-Jones, Tao Dong, David M. Aanensen, Khalil Abudahab, Helen Adams, Alexander Adams, Safiah Afifi, Dinesh Aggarwal, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Louise Aigrain, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Elias Allara, Roberto Amato, Tara Annett, Stephen Aplin, Cristina V. Ariani, Hibo Asad, Amy Ash, Paula Ashfield, Fiona Ashford, Laura Atkinson, Stephen W. Attwood, Cressida Auckland, Alp Aydin, David J. Baker, Paul Baker, Carlos E. Balcazar, Jonathan Ball, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Magdalena Barrow, Edward Barton, Matthew Bashton, Andrew R. Bassett, Rahul Batra, Chris Baxter, Nadua Bayzid, Charlotte Beaver, Angela H. Beckett, Shaun M. Beckwith, Luke Bedford, Robert Beer, Andrew Beggs, Katherine L. Bellis, Louise Berry, Beatrice Bertolusso, Angus Best, Emma Betteridge, David Bibby, Kelly Bicknell, Debbie Binns, Alec Birchley, Paul W. Bird, Chloe Bishop, Rachel Blacow, Victoria Blakey, Beth Blane, Frances Bolt, James Bonfield, Stephen Bonner, David Bonsall, Tim Boswell, Andrew Bosworth, Yann Bourgeois, Olivia Boyd, Declan T. Bradley, Cassie Breen, Catherine Bresner, Judith Breuer, Stephen Bridgett, Iraad F. Bronner, Ellena Brooks, Alice Broos, Julianne R. Brown, Giselda Bucca, Sarah L. Buchan, David Buck, Matthew Bull, Phillipa J. Burns, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Timothy Byaruhanga, Matthew Byott, Sharon Campbell, Alessandro M. Carabelli, James S. Cargill, Matthew Carlile, Silvia F. Carvalho, Anna Casey, Anibolina Castigador, Jana Catalan, Vicki Chalker, Nicola J. Chaloner, Meera Chand, Joseph G. Chappell, Themoula Charalampous, Wendy Chatterton, Yasmin Chaudhry, Carol M. Churcher, Gemma Clark, Phillip Clarke, Benjamin J. Cogger, Kevin Cole, Jennifer Collins, Rachel Colquhoun, Thomas R. Connor, Kate F. Cook, Jason Coombes, Sally Corden, Claire Cormie, Nicholas Cortes, Marius Cotic, Seb Cotton, Simon Cottrell, Lindsay Coupland, MacGregor Cox, Alison Cox, Noel Craine, Liam Crawford, Aidan Cross, Matthew R. Crown, Dorian Crudgington, Nicola Cumley, Tanya Curran, Martin D. Curran, Ana da Silva Filipe, Gavin Dabrera, Alistair C. Darby, Rose K. Davidson, Alisha Davies, Robert M. Davies, Thomas Davis, Daniela de Angelis, Elen De Lacy, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Johnny Debebe, Rebecca Denton-Smith, Samir Dervisevic, Rebecca Dewar, Jayasree Dey, Joana Dias, Donald Dobie, Matthew J. Dorman, Fatima Downing, Megan Driscoll, Louis du Plessis, Nichola Duckworth, Jillian Durham, Kirstine Eastick, Lisa J. Easton, Richard Eccles, Jonathan Edgeworth, Sue Edwards, Kate El Bouzidi, Sahar Eldirdiri, Nicholas Ellaby, Scott Elliott, Gary Eltringham, Leah Ensell, Michelle J. Erkiert, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Sarah Essex, Johnathan M. Evans, Cariad Evans, William Everson, Derek J. Fairley, Karlie Fallon, Arezou Fanaie, Ben W. Farr, Christopher Fearn, Theresa Feltwell, Lynne Ferguson, Laia Fina, Flavia Flaviani, Vicki M. Fleming, Sally Forrest, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Benjamin H. Foulkes, Luke Foulser, Mireille Fragakis, Dan Frampton, Sarah Francois, Christophe Fraser, Timothy M. Freeman, Helen Fryer, Marc Fuchs, William Fuller, Kavitha Gajee, Katerina Galai, Abbie Gallagher, Eileen Gallagher, Michael D. Gallagher, Marta Gallis, Amy Gaskin, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Lily Geidelberg, Matthew Gemmell, Iliana Georgana, Ryan P. George, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Sophia T. Girgis, Sharon Glaysher, Emily J. Goldstein, Tanya Golubchik, Andrea N. Gomes, Sónia Gonçalves, Ian G. Goodfellow, Scott Goodwin, Salman Goudarzi, Marina Gourtovaia, Clive Graham, Lee Graham, Paul R. Grant, Luke R. Green, Angie Green, Jane Greenaway, Richard Gregory, Martyn Guest, Rory N. Gunson, Ravi K. Gupta, Bernardo Gutierrez, Sam T. Haldenby, William L. Hamilton, Samantha E. Hansford, Tanzina Haque, Kathryn A. Harris, Ian Harrison, Ewan M. Harrison, Jennifer Hart, John A. Hartley, William T. Harvey, Matthew Harvey, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, Judith Heaney, Thomas Helmer, John H. Henderson, Andrew R. Hesketh, Jessica Hey, David Heyburn, Ellen E. Higginson, Verity Hill, Jack D. Hill, Rachel A. Hilson, Ember Hilvers, Matthew T.G. Holden, Amy Hollis, Christopher W. Holmes, Nadine Holmes, Alison H. Holmes, Richard Hopes, Hailey R. Hornsby, Myra Hosmillo, Catherine Houlihan, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Jonathan Hubb, Hannah Huckson, Warwick Hughes, Joseph Hughes, Margaret Hughes, Stephanie Hutchings, Giles Idle, Chris J. Illingworth, Robert Impey, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Rhys Izuagbe, Chris Jackson, Ben Jackson, Leigh M. Jackson, Kathryn A. Jackson, David K. Jackson, Aminu S. Jahun, Victoria James, Keith James, Christopher Jeanes, Aaron R. Jeffries, Sarah Jeremiah, Andrew Jermy, Michaela John, Rob Johnson, Kate Johnson, Ian Johnston, Owen Jones, Sophie Jones, Hannah Jones, Christopher R. Jones, Neil Jones, Amelia Joseph, Sarah Judges, Gemma L. Kay, Sally Kay, Jon-Paul Keatley, Alexander J. Keeley, Anita Kenyon, Leanne M. Kermack, Manjinder Khakh, Stephen P. Kidd, Maimuna Kimuli, Stuart Kirk, Christine Kitchen, Katie Kitchman, Bridget A. Knight, Cherian Koshy, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Angie Lackenby, Kenneth G. Laing, Temi Lampejo, Cordelia F. Langford, Deborah Lavin, Andrew I. Lawton, Jack Lee, David Lee, Stefanie V. Lensing, Steven Leonard, Lisa J. Levett, Thanh Le-Viet, Jonathan Lewis, Kevin Lewis, Jennifier Liddle, Steven Liggett, Patrick J. Lillie, Michelle M. Lister, Rich Livett, Stephanie Lo, Nicholas J. Loman, Matthew W. Loose, Stavroula F. Louka, Katie F. Loveson, Sarah Lowdon, Hannah Lowe, Helen L. Lowe, Anita O. Lucaci, Catherine Ludden, Jessica Lynch, Ronan A. Lyons, Katrina Lythgoe, Nicholas W. Machin, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Andrew Mack, Ben Macklin, Alasdair Maclean, Emily Macnaughton, Pinglawathee Madona, Mailis Maes, Laurentiu Maftei, Adhyana I.K. Mahanama, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Daniel Mair, Joshua Maksimovic, Cassandra S. Malone, Daniel Maloney, Nikos Manesis, Robin Manley, Anna Mantzouratou, Angela Marchbank, Arun Mariappan, Inigo Martincorena, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, Alison E. Mather, Patrick Maxwell, Megan Mayhew, Tamyo Mbisa, Clare M. McCann, Shane A. McCarthy, Kathryn McCluggage, Patrick C. McClure, J.T. McCrone, Martin P. McHugh, James P. McKenna, Caoimhe McKerr, Georgina M. McManus, Claire L. McMurray, Claire McMurray, Alan McNally, Lizzie Meadows, Nathan Medd, Oliver Megram, Mirko Menegazzo, Ian Merrick, Stephen L. Michell, Michelle L. Michelsen, Mariyam Mirfenderesky, Jeremy Mirza, Julia Miskelly, Emma Moles-Garcia, Robin J. Moll, Zoltan Molnar, Irene M. Monahan, Matteo Mondani, Siddharth Mookerjee, Christopher Moore, Jonathan Moore, Nathan Moore, Catherine Moore, Helen Morcrette, Sian Morgan, Mari Morgan, Matilde Mori, Arthur Morriss, Samuel Moses, Craig Mower, Peter Muir, Afrida Mukaddas, Florence Munemo, Robert Munn, Abigail Murray, Leanne J. Murray, Darren R. Murray, Manasa Mutingwende, Richard Myers, Eleni Nastouli, Gaia Nebbia, Andrew Nelson, Charlotte Nelson, Sam Nicholls, Jenna Nichols, Roberto Nicodemi, Kyriaki Nomikou, Justin O’Grady, Sarah O'Brien, Mina Odedra, Natasha Ohemeng-Kumi, Karen Oliver, Richard J. Orton, Husam Osman, xeine O'Toole, Nicole Pacchiarini, Debra Padgett, Andrew J. Page, Emily J. Park, Naomi R. Park, Surendra Parmar, David G. Partridge, David Pascall, Amita Patel, Bindi Patel, Steve Paterson, Brendan A.I. Payne, Sharon J. Peacock, Clare Pearson, Emanuela Pelosi, Benita Percival, Jon Perkins, Malorie Perry, Malte L. Pinckert, Steven Platt, Olga Podplomyk, Manoj Pohare, Marcus Pond, Cassie F. Pope, Radoslaw Poplawski, Jessica Powell, Jennifer Poyner, Liam Prestwood, Anna Price, James R. Price, Jacqui A. Prieto, David T. Pritchard, Sophie J. Prosolek, Georgia Pugh, Monika Pusok, Oliver G. Pybus, Hannah M. Pymont, Michael A. Quail, Joshua Quick, Clara Radulescu, Jayna Raghwani, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Lucille Rainbow, Diana Rajan, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Newara A. Ramadan, Andrew Rambaut, John Ramble, Paul A. Randell, Paul Randell, Liz Ratcliffe, Veena Raviprakash, Mohammad Raza, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Sara Rey, Nicola Reynolds, Alex Richter, David L. Robertson, Esther Robinson, Samuel C. Robson, Fiona Rogan, Stefan Rooke, Will Rowe, Sunando Roy, Steven Rudder, Chris Ruis, Steven Rushton, Felicity Ryan, Kordo Saeed, Buddhini Samaraweera, Christine M. Sambles, Roy Sanderson, Theo Sanderson, Fei Sang, Thea Sass, Emily Scher, Garren Scott, Carol Scott, Jasveen Sehmi, Sharif Shaaban, Divya Shah, Jessica Shaw, Ekaterina Shelest, James G. Shepherd, Liz A. Sheridan, Nicola Sheriff, Lesley Shirley, John Sillitoe, Siona Silviera, David A. Simpson, Aditi Singh, Dawn Singleton, Timofey Skvortsov, Tim J. Sloan, Graciela Sluga, Ken Smith, Kim S. Smith, Perminder Smith, Darren L. Smith, Louise Smith, Colin P. Smith, Nikki Smith, Katherine L. Smollett, Luke B. Snell, Thomas Somassa, Joel Southgate, Karla Spellman, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Lewis G. Spurgin, Moira J. Spyer, Rachael Stanley, William Stanley, Thomas D. Stanton, Igor Starinskij, Joanne Stockton, Susanne Stonehouse, Nathaniel Storey, David J. Studholme, Malur Sudhanva, Emma Swindells, Yusri Taha, Ngee Keong Tan, Julian W. Tang, Miao Tang, Ben E.W. Taylor, Joshua F. Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Ben Temperton, Kate E. Templeton, Claire Thomas, Laura Thomson, Emma C. Thomson, Alicia Thornton, Scott A.J. Thurston, John A. Todd, Rachael Tomb, Lily Tong, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, M. Estee Torok, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, Amy Trebes, Alexander J. Trotter, Ioulia Tsatsani, Robyn Turnbull, Katherine A. Twohig, Helen Umpleby, Anthony P. Underwood, Edith E. Vamos, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Sreenu Vattipally, Gabrielle Vernet, Barry B. Vipond, Erik M. Volz, Sarah Walsh, Dennis Wang, Ben Warne, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Elizabeth Wastnedge, Joanne Watkins, Louisa K. Watson, Sheila Waugh, Hermione J. Webster, Danni Weldon, Elaine Westwick, Thomas Whalley, Helen Wheeler, Mark Whitehead, Max Whiteley, Andrew Whitwham, Claudia Wierzbicki, Nicholas J. Willford, Lesley-Anne Williams, Rebecca Williams, Cheryl Williams, Chris Williams, Charlotte A. Williams, Rachel J. Williams, Thomas Williams, Catryn Williams, Kathleen A. Williamson, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Eric Witele, Karen T. Withell, Adam A. Witney, Paige Wolverson, Nick Wong, Trudy Workman, Victoria Wright, Derek W. Wright, Tim Wyatt, Sarah Wyllie, Li Xu-McCrae, Mehmet Yavus, Geraldine Yaze, Corin A. Yeats, Gonzalo Yebra, Wen C. Yew, Gregory R. Young, Jamie Young, Alex E. Zarebski, Peijun Zhang, J. Kenneth Baillie, Malcolm G. Semple, Peter J.M. Openshaw, Gail Carson, Beatrice Alex, Petros Andrikopoulos, Benjamin Bach, Wendy S. Barclay, Debby Bogaert, Kanta Chechi, Graham S. Cooke, Annemarie B. Docherty, Gonçalo dos Santos Correia, Marc-Emmanuel Dumas, Jake Dunning, Tom Fletcher, Christopher A. Green, William Greenhalf, Julian L. Griffin, Rishi K. Gupta, Ewen M. Harrison, Julian A. Hiscox, Antonia Ying Wai Ho, Peter W. Horby, Samreen Ijaz, Saye Khoo, Paul Klenerman, Andrew Law, Matthew R. Lewis, Sonia Liggi, Wei Shen Lim, Lynn Maslen, Laura Merson, Alison M. Meynert, Mahdad Noursadeghi, Michael Olanipekun, Anthonia Osagie, Massimo Palmarini, Carlo Palmieri, William A. Paxton, Georgios Pollakis, Nicholas Price, Clark D. Russell, Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu, Caroline J. Sands, Janet T. Scott, Louise Sigfrid, Tom Solomon, Shiranee Sriskandan, David Stuart, Charlotte Summers, Olivia V. Swann, Zoltan Takats, Panteleimon Takis, Richard S. Tedder, A.A. Roger Thompson, Ryan S. Thwaites, Maria Zambon, Hayley Hardwick, Chloe Donohue, Fiona Griffiths, Wilna Oosthuyzen, Cara Donegan, Rebecca G. Spencer, Jo Dalton, Michelle Girvan, Egle Saviciute, Stephanie Roberts, Janet Harrison, Laura Marsh, Marie Connor, Sophie Halpin, Clare Jackson, Carrol Gamble, Daniel Plotkin, James Lee, Gary Leeming, Murray Wham, Sara Clohisey, Ross Hendry, James Scott-Brown, Victoria Shaw, Sarah E. McDonald, Seán Keating, Katie A. Ahmed, Jane A. Armstrong, Milton Ashworth, Innocent G. Asiimwe, Siddharth Bakshi, Samantha L. Barlow, Laura Booth, Benjamin Brennan, Katie Bullock, Benjamin W.A. Catterall, Jordan J. Clark, Emily A. Clarke, Sarah Cole, Louise Cooper, Helen Cox, Christopher Davis, Oslem Dincarslan, Chris Dunn, Philip Dyer, Angela Elliott, Anthony Evans, Lorna Finch, Lewis W.S. Fisher, Terry Foster, Isabel Garcia-Dorival, Philip Gunning, Catherine Hartley, Rebecca L. Jensen, Christopher B. Jones, Trevor R. Jones, Shadia Khandaker, Katharine King, Robyn T. Kiy, Chrysa Koukorava, Annette Lake, Suzannah Lant, Diane Latawiec, Lara Lavelle-Langham, Daniella Lefteri, Lauren Lett, Lucia A. Livoti, Maria Mancini, Sarah McDonald, Laurence McEvoy, John McLauchlan, Soeren Metelmann, Nahida S. Miah, Joanna Middleton, Joyce Mitchell, Ellen G. Murphy, Rebekah Penrice-Randal, Jack Pilgrim, Tessa Prince, Will Reynolds, P. Matthew Ridley, Debby Sales, Victoria E. Shaw, Rebecca K. Shears, Benjamin Small, Krishanthi S. Subramaniam, Agnieska Szemiel, Aislynn Taggart, Jolanta Tanianis-Hughes, Jordan Thomas, Erwan Trochu, Libby van Tonder, Eve Wilcock, J. Eunice Zhang, Lisa Flaherty, Nicole Maziere, Emily Cass, Alejandra Doce Carracedo, Nicola Carlucci, Anthony Holmes, Hannah Massey, Lee Murphy, Nicola Wrobel, Sarah McCafferty, Kirstie Morrice, Alan MacLean, Kayode Adeniji, Daniel Agranoff, Ken Agwuh, Dhiraj Ail, Erin L. Aldera, Ana Alegria, Sam Allen, Brian Angus, Abdul Ashish, Dougal Atkinson, Shahedal Bari, Gavin Barlow, Stella Barnass, Nicholas Barrett, Christopher Bassford, Sneha Basude, David Baxter, Michael Beadsworth, Jolanta Bernatoniene, John Berridge, Colin Berry, Nicola Best, Pieter Bothma, David Chadwick, Robin Brittain-Long, Naomi Bulteel, Tom Burden, Andrew Burtenshaw, Vikki Caruth, Duncan Chambler, Nigel Chee, Jenny Child, Srikanth Chukkambotla, Tom Clark, Paul Collini, Catherine Cosgrove, Jason Cupitt, Maria-Teresa Cutino-Moguel, Paul Dark, Chris Dawson, Phil Donnison, Sam Douthwaite, Andrew Drummond, Ingrid DuRand, Ahilanadan Dushianthan, Tristan Dyer, Chi Eziefula, Chrisopher Fegan, Adam Finn, Duncan Fullerton, Sanjeev Garg, Atul Garg, Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, Jo Godden, Arthur Goldsmith, Elaine Hardy, Stuart Hartshorn, Daniel Harvey, Peter Havalda, Daniel B. Hawcutt, Maria Hobrok, Luke Hodgson, Anil Hormis, Michael Jacobs, Susan Jain, Paul Jennings, Agilan Kaliappan, Vidya Kasipandian, Stephen Kegg, Michael Kelsey, Jason Kendall, Caroline Kerrison, Ian Kerslake, Oliver Koch, Gouri Koduri, George Koshy, Shondipon Laha, Steven Laird, Susan Larkin, Tamas Leiner, Patrick Lillie, James Limb, Vanessa Linnett, Jeff Little, Mark Lyttle, Michael MacMahon, Emily MacNaughton, Ravish Mankregod, Huw Masson, Elijah Matovu, Katherine McCullough, Ruth McEwen, Manjula Meda, Gary Mills, Jane Minton, Kavya Mohandas, Quen Mok, James Moon, Elinoor Moore, Patrick Morgan, Craig Morris, Katherine Mortimore, Mbiye Mpenge, Rohinton Mulla, Michael Murphy, Megan Nagel, Thapas Nagarajan, Mark Nelson, Lillian Norris, Matthew K. O'Shea, Igor Otahal, Marlies Ostermann, Mark Pais, Selva Panchatsharam, Danai Papakonstantinou, Hassan Paraiso, Brij Patel, Natalie Pattison, Justin Pepperell, Mark Peters, Mandeep Phull, Stefania Pintus, Jagtur Singh Pooni, Tim Planche, Frank Post, David Price, Rachel Prout, Nikolas Rae, Henrik Reschreiter, Tim Reynolds, Neil Richardson, Mark Roberts, Devender Roberts, Alistair Rose, Guy Rousseau, Bobby Ruge, Brendan Ryan, Taranprit Saluja, Matthias L. Schmid, Aarti Shah, Prad Shanmuga, Anil Sharma, Anna Shawcross, Jeremy Sizer, Manu Shankar-Hari, Richard Smith, Catherine Snelson, Nick Spittle, Nikki Staines, Tom Stambach, Richard Stewart, Pradeep Subudhi, Tamas Szakmany, Kate Tatham, Jo Thomas, Chris Thompson, Robert Thompson, Ascanio Tridente, Darell Tupper-Carey, Mary Twagira, Nick Vallotton, Rama Vancheeswaran, Lisa Vincent-Smith, Shico Visuvanathan, Alan Vuylsteke, Sam Waddy, Rachel Wake, Andrew Walden, Ingeborg Welters, Tony Whitehouse, Paul Whittaker, Ashley Whittington, Padmasayee Papineni, Meme Wijesinghe, Martin Williams, Lawrence Wilson, Stephen Winchester, Martin Wiselka, Adam Wolverson, Daniel G. Wootton, Andrew Workman, Bryan Yates, and Peter Young
Subjects: Phylogenetics, Molecular biology, Immunology, Immune response, Virology, Science
Abstract: Summary: We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.
Published: 2021
Full Text: View/download PDF

8. Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7

Author: Bo Meng, Steven A. Kemp, Guido Papa, Rawlings Datir, Isabella A.T.M. Ferreira, Sara Marelli, William T. Harvey, Spyros Lytras, Ahmed Mohamed, Giulia Gallo, Nazia Thakur, Dami A. Collier, Petra Mlcochova, Lidia M. Duncan, Alessandro M. Carabelli, Julia C. Kenyon, Andrew M. Lever, Anna De Marco, Christian Saliba, Katja Culap, Elisabetta Cameroni, Nicholas J. Matheson, Luca Piccoli, Davide Corti, Leo C. James, David L. Robertson, Dalan Bailey, Ravindra K. Gupta, Samuel C. Robson, Nicholas J. Loman, Thomas R. Connor, Tanya Golubchik, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, Catherine Ludden, Sally Corden, Ian Johnston, David Bonsall, Colin P. Smith, Ali R. Awan, Giselda Bucca, M. Estee Torok, Kordo Saeed, Jacqui A. Prieto, David K. Jackson, William L. Hamilton, Luke B. Snell, Catherine Moore, Ewan M. Harrison, Sonia Goncalves, Derek J. Fairley, Matthew W. Loose, Joanne Watkins, Rich Livett, Samuel Moses, Roberto Amato, Sam Nicholls, Matthew Bull, Darren L. Smith, Jeff Barrett, David M. Aanensen, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Dinesh Aggarwal, James G. Shepherd, Matthew D. Parker, Sharon Glaysher, Matthew Bashton, Anthony P. Underwood, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katie F. Loveson, Kate E. Templeton, Cordelia F. Langford, John Sillitoe, Thushan I. de Silva, Dennis Wang, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Andrew Rambaut, Justin O’Grady, Simon Cottrell, Matthew T.G. Holden, Emma C. Thomson, Husam Osman, Monique Andersson, Anoop J. Chauhan, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, Mara Lawniczak, Alex Alderton, Meera Chand, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Alistair C. Darby, Julian A. Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Inigo Martincorena, Erik M. Volz, Andrew J. Page, Oliver G. Pybus, Andrew R. Bassett, Cristina V. Ariani, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Kathy K. Li, Rajiv N. Shah, Natasha G. Jesudason, Yusri Taha, Martin P. McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Aminu S. Jahun, Claire McMurray, Sarojini Pandey, James P. McKenna, Andrew Nelson, Gregory R. Young, Clare M. McCann, Scott Elliott, Hannah Lowe, Ben Temperton, Sunando Roy, Anna Price, Sara Rey, Matthew Wyles, Stefan Rooke, Sharif Shaaban, Mariateresa de Cesare, Laura Letchford, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Myra Hosmillo, Áine O’Toole, Andrew R. Hesketh, Richard Stark, Louis du Plessis, Chris Ruis, Helen Adams, Yann Bourgeois, Stephen L. Michell, Dimitris Gramatopoulos, Jonathan Edgeworth, Judith Breuer, John A. Todd, Christophe Fraser, David Buck, Michaela John, Gemma L. Kay, Steve Palmer, Sharon J. Peacock, David Heyburn, Danni Weldon, Esther Robinson, Alan McNally, Peter Muir, Ian B. Vipond, John Boyes, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Tranprit Salluja, Samir Dervisevic, Emma J. Meader, Naomi R. Park, Karen Oliver, Aaron R. Jeffries, Sascha Ott, Ana da Silva Filipe, David A. Simpson, Chris Williams, Jane A.H. Masoli, Bridget A. Knight, Christopher R. Jones, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Anna Casey, Andrew Bosworth, Liz Ratcliffe, Li Xu-McCrae, Hannah M. Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Fenella Halstead, Thomas Davis, Christopher Holmes, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Anita O. Lucaci, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Steven Liggett, Clive Graham, Emma Swindells, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Sharon Campbell, Patrick C. McClure, Gemma Clark, Tim J. Sloan, Carl Jones, Jessica Lynch, Ben Warne, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Thomas Williams, Sam T. Haldenby, Nathaniel Storey, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Malorie Perry, Noel Craine, Ronan A. Lyons, Angela H. Beckett, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, Robert Davies, Beth Blane, Sophia T. Girgis, Mathew A. Beale, Katherine L. Bellis, Matthew J. Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Liam Prestwood, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Rahul Batra, Rachel J. Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Angie Green, Anita Justice, Adhyana I.K. Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Joshua Quick, Radoslaw Poplawski, Leanne M. Kermack, Nicola Reynolds, Grant Hall, Yasmin Chaudhry, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Robin J. Moll, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Joanne Stockton, Charlotte A. Williams, Wen C. Yew, Alexander J. Trotter, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Ember Hilvers, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Michelle Cronin, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Sarah Taylor, Sophie Jones, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F. Louka, Igor Starinskij, Chris Jackson, Marina Gourtovaia, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, Keith James, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Richard J. Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Alex E. Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Joel Southgate, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Timothy M. Freeman, Jon-Paul Keatley, Joshua B. Singer, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Corin A. Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben E.W. Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, John Danesh, Wendy Hogsden, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I. Robinson, Alison Holmes, James Price, John A. Hartley, Tanya Curran, Alison E. Mather, Giri Shankar, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sian Morgan, Elizabeth Wastenge, Michael R. Chapman, Siddharth Mookerjee, Rachael Stanley, Wendy Smith, Timothy Peto, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Gabrielle Vernet, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Declan T. Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Charlotte Beaver, Luke Foulser, Sophie Palmer, Carol M. Churcher, Ellena Brooks, Kim S. Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M. McManus, Frances Bolt, Francesc Coll, Lizzie Meadows, Stephen W. Attwood, Alisha Davies, Elen De Lacy, Fatima Downing, Sue Edwards, Garry P. Scarlett, Sarah Jeremiah, Nikki Smith, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Michelle Wantoch, Dorota Jamrozy, Stephanie Lo, Minal Patel, Verity Hill, Claire M. Bewshea, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Ian Harrison, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Richard Hopes, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O. Niebel, Rory N. Gunson, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Antony D. Hale, Louissa R. Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L. Harper, Holli Carden, Nicholas W. Machin, Kathryn A. Jackson, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Lance Turtle, Elaine O’Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Themoula Charalampous, Amita Patel, Lisa J. Levett, Judith Heaney, Aileen Rowan, Graham P. Taylor, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack C.D. Lee, Adam P. Westhorpe, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L. Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Graciela Sluga, Zoltan Molnar, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Jane Greenaway, Brendan A.I. Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Veena Raviprakash, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Louise Smith, Rose K. Davidson, Luke Bedford, Lindsay Coupland, Victoria Wright, Joseph G. Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M. Fleming, Michelle M. Lister, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Stephen Kidd, Rebecca Williams, Laura Gifford, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Cassandra S. Malone, Benjamin J. Cogger, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Alexander J. Keeley, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Emma Betteridge, Ben W. Farr, Scott Goodwin, Michael A. Quail, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, Scott A.J. Thurston, Diana Rajan, Iraad F. Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Stefanie V. Lensing, Shane McCarthy, Alex Makunin, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Kathleen A. Williamson, Thomas D. Stanton, Michelle L. Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W. Harrison, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A. Twohig, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Paul E. Brown, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N. Carmichael, Katherine L. Smollett, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Seema Nickbakhsh, Edith E. Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J. Webster, Chloe L. Fisher, Adrian W. Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D. Wilson, Gaia Nebbia, Flavia Flaviani, Alberto C. Cerda, Tammy V. Merrill, Rebekah E. Wilson, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Steven Rushton, Sarah O’Brien, David J. Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Francois, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, Angela Marchbank, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Mari Morgan, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Trudy Workman, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Adrienn Angyal, Luke R. Green, Paul J. Parsons, Rachel M. Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Max Whiteley, James Bonfield, Christoph Puethe, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Will Rowe, Igor Siveroni, Thanh Le-Viet, Amy Gaskin, Rob Johnson, Irina Abnizova, Mozam Ali, Laura Allen, Ralph Anderson, Cristina Ariani, Siobhan Austin-Guest, Sendu Bala, Jeffrey Barrett, Andrew Bassett, Kristina Battleday, James Beal, Mathew Beale, Sam Bellany, Tristram Bellerby, Katie Bellis, Duncan Berger, Matt Berriman, Paul Bevan, Simon Binley, Jason Bishop, Kirsty Blackburn, Nick Boughton, Sam Bowker, Timothy Brendler-Spaeth, Iraad Bronner, Tanya Brooklyn, Sarah Kay Buddenborg, Robert Bush, Catarina Caetano, Alex Cagan, Nicola Carter, Joanna Cartwright, Tiago Carvalho Monteiro, Liz Chapman, Tracey-Jane Chillingworth, Peter Clapham, Richard Clark, Adrian Clarke, Catriona Clarke, Daryl Cole, Elizabeth Cook, Maria Coppola, Linda Cornell, Clare Cornwell, Craig Corton, Abby Crackett, Alison Cranage, Harriet Craven, Sarah Craw, Mark Crawford, Tim Cutts, Monika Dabrowska, Matt Davies, Joseph Dawson, Callum Day, Aiden Densem, Thomas Dibling, Cat Dockree, David Dodd, Sunil Dogga, Matthew Dorman, Gordon Dougan, Martin Dougherty, Alexander Dove, Lucy Drummond, Monika Dudek, Laura Durrant, Elizabeth Easthope, Sabine Eckert, Pete Ellis, Ben Farr, Michael Fenton, Marcella Ferrero, Neil Flack, Howerd Fordham, Grace Forsythe, Matt Francis, Audrey Fraser, Adam Freeman, Anastasia Galvin, Maria Garcia-Casado, Alex Gedny, Sophia Girgis, James Glover, Oliver Gould, Andy Gray, Emma Gray, Coline Griffiths, Yong Gu, Florence Guerin, Will Hamilton, Hannah Hanks, Ewan Harrison, Alexandria Harrott, Edward Harry, Julia Harvison, Paul Heath, Anastasia Hernandez-Koutoucheva, Rhiannon Hobbs, Dave Holland, Sarah Holmes, Gary Hornett, Nicholas Hough, Liz Huckle, Lena Hughes-Hallet, Adam Hunter, Stephen Inglis, Sameena Iqbal, Adam Jackson, David Jackson, Carlos Jimenez Verdejo, Matthew Jones, Kalyan Kallepally, Keely Kay, Jon Keatley, Alan Keith, Alison King, Lucy Kitchin, Matt Kleanthous, Martina Klimekova, Petra Korlevic, Ksenia Krasheninnkova, Greg Lane, Cordelia Langford, Adam Laverack, Katharine Law, Stefanie Lensing, Amanah Lewis-Wade, Jennifer Liddle, Quan Lin, Sarah Lindsay, Sally Linsdell, Rhona Long, Jamie Lovell, Jon Lovell, James Mack, Mark Maddison, Aleksei Makunin, Irfan Mamun, Jenny Mansfield, Neil Marriott, Matt Martin, Matthew Mayho, Jo McClintock, Sandra McHugh, Liz MapcMinn, Carl Meadows, Emily Mobley, Robin Moll, Maria Morra, Leanne Morrow, Kathryn Murie, Sian Nash, Claire Nathwani, Plamena Naydenova, Alexandra Neaverson, Ed Nerou, Jon Nicholson, Tabea Nimz, Guillaume G. Noell, Sarah O’Meara, Valeriu Ohan, Charles Olney, Doug Ormond, Agnes Oszlanczi, Yoke Fei Pang, Barbora Pardubska, Naomi Park, Aaron Parmar, Gaurang Patel, Maggie Payne, Sharon Peacock, Arabella Petersen, Deborah Plowman, Tom Preston, Michael Quail, Richard Rance, Suzannah Rawlings, Nicholas Redshaw, Joe Reynolds, Mark Reynolds, Simon Rice, Matt Richardson, Connor Roberts, Katrina Robinson, Melanie Robinson, David Robinson, Hazel Rogers, Eduardo Martin Rojo, Daljit Roopra, Mark Rose, Luke Rudd, Ramin Sadri, Nicholas Salmon, David Saul, Frank Schwach, Phil Seekings, Alison Simms, Matt Sinnott, Shanthi Sivadasan, Bart Siwek, Dale Sizer, Kenneth Skeldon, Jason Skelton, Joanna Slater-Tunstill, Lisa Sloper, Nathalie Smerdon, Chris Smith, Christen Smith, James Smith, Katie Smith, Michelle Smith, Sean Smith, Tina Smith, Leighton Sneade, Carmen Diaz Soria, Catarina Sousa, Emily Souster, Andrew Sparkes, Michael Spencer-Chapman, Janet Squares, Robert Stanley, Claire Steed, Tim Stickland, Ian Still, Mike Stratton, Michelle Strickland, Allen Swann, Agnieszka Swiatkowska, Neil Sycamore, Emma Swift, Edward Symons, Suzanne Szluha, Emma Taluy, Nunu Tao, Katy Taylor, Sam Taylor, Stacey Thompson, Mark Thompson, Mark Thomson, Nicholas Thomson, Scott Thurston, Dee Toombs, Benjamin Topping, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Daniel Ungureanu, James Uphill, Jana Urbanova, Philip Jansen Van, Valerie Vancollie, Paul Voak, Danielle Walker, Matthew Walker, Matt Waller, Gary Ward, Charlie Weatherhogg, Niki Webb, Alan Wells, Eloise Wells, Luke Westwood, Theo Whipp, Thomas Whiteley, Georgia Whitton, Sara Widaa, Mia Williams, Mark Wilson, and Sean Wright
Subjects: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, antibody escape, neutralizing antibodies, infectivity, spike mutation, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract: Summary: We report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F, known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show that, although ΔH69/V70 itself is not an antibody evasion mechanism, it increases infectivity associated with enhanced incorporation of cleaved spike into virions. ΔH69/V70 is able to partially rescue infectivity of spike proteins that have acquired N439K and Y453F escape mutations by increased spike incorporation. In addition, replacement of the H69 and V70 residues in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike (where ΔH69/V70 occurs naturally) impairs spike incorporation and entry efficiency of the B.1.1.7 spike pseudotyped virus. Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike mediates faster kinetics of cell-cell fusion than wild-type Wuhan-1 D614G, dependent on ΔH69/V70. Therefore, as ΔH69/V70 compensates for immune escape mutations that impair infectivity, continued surveillance for deletions with functional effects is warranted.
Published: 2021
Full Text: View/download PDF

9. Changes in symptomatology, reinfection, and transmissibility associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study

Author: Mark S Graham, PhD, Carole H Sudre, PhD, Anna May, MA, Michela Antonelli, PhD, Benjamin Murray, MSc, Thomas Varsavsky, MSc, Kerstin Kläser, MSc, Liane S Canas, PhD, Erika Molteni, PhD, Marc Modat, PhD, David A Drew, PhD, Long H Nguyen, MD, Lorenzo Polidori, MSc, Somesh Selvachandran, MSc, Christina Hu, MA, Joan Capdevila, PhD, Alexander Hammers, ProfPhD, Andrew T Chan, ProfMD, Jonathan Wolf, MA, Tim D Spector, ProfPhD, Claire J Steves, PhD, Sebastien Ourselin, ProfPhD, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Jessica Lynch, Stephen Kidd, Derek J Fairley, Tanya Curran, James P McKenna, Helen Adams, Christophe Fraser, Tanya Golubchik, David Bonsall, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Cassandra S Malone, Benjamin J Cogger, Michelle Wantoch, Nicola Reynolds, Ben Warne, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Michaela John, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Sian Morgan, Angela Marchbank, Anna Price, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Joel Southgate, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Trudy Workman, Thomas R Connor, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Luke B Snell, Amita Patel, Themoula Charalampous, Gaia Nebbia, Rahul Batra, Jonathan Edgeworth, Samuel C Robson, Angela H Beckett, David M Aanensen, Anthony P Underwood, Corin A Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben EW Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, Gemma Clark, Wendy Smith, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M Fleming, Michelle M Lister, Hannah C Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Carl Jones, Christopher Holmes, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Veena Raviprakash, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Matthew W Loose, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Victoria Wright, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Francesc Coll, Adrian W Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D Wilson, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Thomas Davis, Oliver G Pybus, Louis du Plessis, Alex E Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz UG Kraemer, Sarah Francois, Stephen W Attwood, Tetyana I Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, M. Estee Torok, William L Hamilton, Ian G Goodfellow, Grant Hall, Aminu S Jahun, Yasmin Chaudhry, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Samuel Moses, Hannah Lowe, Luke Bedford, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Chloe L Fisher, Ali R Awan, John BoYes, Judith Breuer, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack CD Lee, Nathaniel Storey, Flavia Flaviani, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Rebecca Williams, Gabrielle Vernet, Michael R Chapman, Lisa J Levett, Judith Heaney, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Li Xu-McCrae, Darren L Smith, Matthew Bashton, Gregory R Young, Alison Holmes, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Frances Bolt, James Price, Siddharth Mookerjee, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Igor Siveroni, Rob Johnson, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Erik M Volz, Aileen Rowan, Graham P Taylor, Katherine L Smollett, Nicholas J Loman, Joshua Quick, Claire McMurray, Joanne Stockton, Sam Nicholls, Will Rowe, Radoslaw Poplawski, Alan McNally, Rocio T Martinez Nunez, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I Robinson, Elaine O'Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Graciela Sluga, Nicholas W Machin, Shazaad S Y Ahmad, Ryan P George, Fenella Halstead, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Wendy Hogsden, Chris J Illingworth, Chris Jackson, Emma C Thomson, James G Shepherd, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O Niebel, Kathy K Li, Rajiv N Shah, Natasha G Jesudason, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N Carmichael, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Igor Starinskij, Ana da Silva Filipe, David L Robertson, Richard J Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Joshua B Singer, Seema Nickbakhsh, Antony D Hale, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L Harper, Holli Carden, Yusri Taha, Brendan AI Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Steven Rushton, Sarah O'Brien, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Kate E Templeton, Martin P McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Elizabeth Wastenge, Samir Dervisevic, Rachael Stanley, Emma J Meader, Lindsay Coupland, Louise Smith, Clive Graham, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Emma Swindells, Jane Greenaway, Andrew Nelson, Clare M McCann, Wen C Yew, Monique Andersson, Timothy Peto, Anita Justice, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Tim J Sloan, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Anoop J Chauhan, Sharon Glaysher, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Scott Elliott, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Declan T Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Husam Osman, Andrew Bosworth, Esther Robinson, Peter Muir, Ian B Vipond, Richard Hopes, Hannah M Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Martin D Curran, Surendra Parmar, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Meera Chand, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Ian Harrison, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A Twohig, Matthew T.G. Holden, Sharif Shaaban, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Alisha Davies, Amy Gaskin, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Catherine Moore, Chris Williams, David Heyburn, Elen De Lacy, Ember Hilvers, Fatima Downing, Giri Shankar, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Joanne Watkins, Johnathan M Evans, Laia Fina, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Malorie Perry, Mari Morgan, Matthew Bull, Michelle Cronin, Nicole Pacchiarini, Noel Craine, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sally Corden, Sara Rey, Sara Kumziene-SummerhaYes, Sarah Taylor, Simon Cottrell, Sophie Jones, Sue Edwards, Justin O'Grady, Andrew J Page, Alison E Mather, David J Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Gemma L Kay, Alexander J Trotter, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le-Viet, Lizzie Meadows, Anna Casey, Liz Ratcliffe, David A Simpson, Zoltan Molnar, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Jane AH Masoli, Bridget A Knight, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Christopher R Jones, Tabitha W Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Tranprit Saluja, Yann Bourgeois, Garry P Scarlett, Katie F Loveson, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, David G Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Steven Liggett, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Ronan A Lyons, Kordo Saeed, Adhyana I.K Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Rachel J Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Sunando Roy, Charlotte A Williams, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Adam P Westhorpe, John A Hartley, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Jacqui A Prieto, Sarah Jeremiah, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Sarojini Pandey, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Colin P Smith, Giselda Bucca, Andrew R Hesketh, Beth Blane, Sophia T Girgis, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Leanne M Kermack, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Catherine Ludden, Sharon J Peacock, Sophie Palmer, Carol M Churcher, Nazreen F Hadjirin, Alessandro M Carabelli, Ellena Brooks, Kim S Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M McManus, Chris Ruis, Rose K Davidson, Andrew Rambaut, Thomas Williams, Carlos E Balcazar, Michael D Gallagher, Áine O'Toole, Stefan Rooke, Verity Hill, Kathleen A Williamson, Thomas D Stanton, Stephen L Michell, Claire M Bewshea, Ben Temperton, Michelle L Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W Harrison, Christine M Sambles, David J Studholme, Aaron R Jeffries, Alistair C Darby, Julian A Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Kathryn A Jackson, Anita O Lucaci, Edith E Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Lance Turtle, Sam T Haldenby, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J Webster, Thushan I de Silva, Nikki Smith, Adrienn Angyal, Benjamin B Lindsey, Danielle C Groves, Luke R Green, Dennis Wang, Timothy M Freeman, Matthew D Parker, Alexander J Keeley, Paul J Parsons, Rachel M Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Wyles, Max Whiteley, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F Louka, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Sascha Ott, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Richard Stark, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Paul E Brown, Dinesh Aggarwal, Alberto C Cerda, Tammy V Merrill, Rebekah E Wilson, Patrick C McClure, Joseph G Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, David Buck, John A Todd, Angie Green, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Alex Alderton, Roberto Amato, Cristina V Ariani, Mathew A Beale, Charlotte Beaver, Katherine L Bellis, Emma Betteridge, James Bonfield, John Danesh, Matthew J Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Ben W Farr, Luke Foulser, Sonia Goncalves, Scott Goodwin, Marina Gourtovaia, Ewan M Harrison, David K Jackson, Dorota Jamrozy, Ian Johnston, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Jon-Paul Keatley, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Cordelia F Langford, Mara Lawniczak, Laura Letchford, Rich Livett, Stephanie Lo, Inigo Martincorena, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Steve Palmer, Naomi R Park, Minal Patel, Liam Prestwood, Christoph Puethe, Michael A Quail, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, John Sillitoe, Michael H Spencer Chapman, Scott AJ Thurston, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Danni Weldon, Diana Rajan, Iraad F Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M Redshaw, Stefanie V Lensing, Robert Davies, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M Tovar-Corona, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Andrew R Bassett, Shane McCarthy, Robin J Moll, Keith James, Karen Oliver, Alex Makunin, Jeff Barrett, and Rory N Gunson
Subjects: Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
Abstract: Summary: Background: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in December, 2020, in England. We aimed to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with this variant are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility. Methods: We did an ecological study to examine the association between the regional proportion of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and reported symptoms, disease course, rates of reinfection, and transmissibility. Data on types and duration of symptoms were obtained from longitudinal reports from users of the COVID Symptom Study app who reported a positive test for COVID-19 between Sept 28 and Dec 27, 2020 (during which the prevalence of B.1.1.7 increased most notably in parts of the UK). From this dataset, we also estimated the frequency of possible reinfection, defined as the presence of two reported positive tests separated by more than 90 days with a period of reporting no symptoms for more than 7 days before the second positive test. The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections with the B.1.1.7 variant across the UK was estimated with use of genomic data from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium and data from Public Health England on spike-gene target failure (a non-specific indicator of the B.1.1.7 variant) in community cases in England. We used linear regression to examine the association between reported symptoms and proportion of B.1.1.7. We assessed the Spearman correlation between the proportion of B.1.1.7 cases and number of reinfections over time, and between the number of positive tests and reinfections. We estimated incidence for B.1.1.7 and previous variants, and compared the effective reproduction number, Rt, for the two incidence estimates. Findings: From Sept 28 to Dec 27, 2020, positive COVID-19 tests were reported by 36 920 COVID Symptom Study app users whose region was known and who reported as healthy on app sign-up. We found no changes in reported symptoms or disease duration associated with B.1.1.7. For the same period, possible reinfections were identified in 249 (0·7% [95% CI 0·6–0·8]) of 36 509 app users who reported a positive swab test before Oct 1, 2020, but there was no evidence that the frequency of reinfections was higher for the B.1.1.7 variant than for pre-existing variants. Reinfection occurrences were more positively correlated with the overall regional rise in cases (Spearman correlation 0·56–0·69 for South East, London, and East of England) than with the regional increase in the proportion of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant (Spearman correlation 0·38–0·56 in the same regions), suggesting B.1.1.7 does not substantially alter the risk of reinfection. We found a multiplicative increase in the Rt of B.1.1.7 by a factor of 1·35 (95% CI 1·02–1·69) relative to pre-existing variants. However, Rt fell below 1 during regional and national lockdowns, even in regions with high proportions of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant. Interpretation: The lack of change in symptoms identified in this study indicates that existing testing and surveillance infrastructure do not need to change specifically for the B.1.1.7 variant. In addition, given that there was no apparent increase in the reinfection rate, vaccines are likely to remain effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. Funding: Zoe Global, Department of Health (UK), Wellcome Trust, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), National Institute for Health Research (UK), Medical Research Council (UK), Alzheimer's Society.
Published: 2021
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10. Diversity oriented biosynthesis via accelerated evolution of modular gene clusters

Author: Aleksandra Wlodek, Steve G. Kendrew, Nigel J. Coates, Adam Hold, Joanna Pogwizd, Steven Rudder, Lesley S. Sheehan, Sarah J. Higginbotham, Anna E. Stanley-Smith, Tony Warneck, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam, Markus Radzom, Christine J. Martin, Lois Overvoorde, Markiyan Samborskyy, Silke Alt, Daniel Heine, Guy T. Carter, Edmund I. Graziani, Frank E. Koehn, Leonard McDonald, Alexander Alanine, Rosa María Rodríguez Sarmiento, Suzan Keen Chao, Hasane Ratni, Lucinda Steward, Isobel H. Norville, Mitali Sarkar-Tyson, Steven J. Moss, Peter F. Leadlay, Barrie Wilkinson, and Matthew A. Gregory
Subjects: Science
Abstract: Reengineering polyketide synthase encoding genes to produce analogues of natural products can be slow and low-yielding. Here the authors use accelerated evolution to recombine the gene cluster for rapid production of rapamycin-related products.
Published: 2017
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11. Mining the Sinorhizobium meliloti transportome to develop FRET biosensors for sugars, dicarboxylates and cyclic polyols.

Author: Alexandre Bourdès, Steven Rudder, Alison K East, and Philip S Poole
Subjects: Medicine, Science
Abstract: Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensors are powerful tools to detect biologically important ligands in real time. Currently FRET bisosensors are available for twenty-two compounds distributed in eight classes of chemicals (two pentoses, two hexoses, two disaccharides, four amino acids, one nucleobase, two nucleotides, six ions and three phytoestrogens). To expand the number of available FRET biosensors we used the induction profile of the Sinorhizobium meliloti transportome to systematically screen for new FRET biosensors.Two new vectors were developed for cloning genes for solute-binding proteins (SBPs) between those encoding FRET partner fluorescent proteins. In addition to a vector with the widely used cyan and yellow fluorescent protein FRET partners, we developed a vector using orange (mOrange2) and red fluorescent protein (mKate2) FRET partners. From the sixty-nine SBPs tested, seven gave a detectable FRET signal change on binding substrate, resulting in biosensors for D-quinic acid, myo-inositol, L-rhamnose, L-fucose, β-diglucosides (cellobiose and gentiobiose), D-galactose and C4-dicarboxylates (malate, succinate, oxaloacetate and fumarate). To our knowledge, we describe the first two FRET biosensor constructs based on SBPs from Tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic (TRAP) transport systems.FRET based on orange (mOrange2) and red fluorescent protein (mKate2) partners allows the use of longer wavelength light, enabling deeper penetration of samples at lower energy and increased resolution with reduced back-ground auto-fluorescence. The FRET biosensors described in this paper for four new classes of compounds; (i) cyclic polyols, (ii) L-deoxy sugars, (iii) β-linked disaccharides and (iv) C4-dicarboxylates could be developed to study metabolism in vivo.
Published: 2012
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12. Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes

Author: S. Cotton, M.P. McHugh, R. Dewar, J.G. Haas, K. Templeton, Samuel C. Robson, Thomas R. Connor, Nicholas J. Loman, Tanya Golubchik, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, David Bonsall, Andrew Rambaut, Luke B. Snell, Rich Livett, Catherine Ludden, Sally Corden, Eleni Nastouli, Gaia Nebbia, Ian Johnston, Jacqui A. Prieto, Kordo Saeed, David K. Jackson, Catherine Houlihan, Dan Frampton, William L. Hamilton, Adam A. Witney, Giselda Bucca, Cassie F. Pope, Catherine Moore, Emma C. Thomson, Teresa Cutino-Moguel, Ewan M. Harrison, Colin P. Smith, Fiona Rogan, Shaun M. Beckwith, Abigail Murray, Dawn Singleton, Kirstine Eastick, Liz A. Sheridan, Paul Randell, Leigh M. Jackson, Cristina V. Ariani, Sónia Gonçalves, Derek J. Fairley, Matthew W. Loose, Joanne Watkins, Samuel Moses, Sam Nicholls, Matthew Bull, Roberto Amato, Darren L. Smith, David M. Aanensen, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Beatrix Kele, Dinesh Aggarwal, James G. Shepherd, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Matthew D. Parker, Catryn Williams, Sharon Glaysher, Anthony P. Underwood, Matthew Bashton, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katie F. Loveson, Matthew Byott, Alessandro M. Carabelli, Kate E. Templeton, Sharon J. Peacock, Thushan I. de Silva, Dennis Wang, Cordelia F. Langford, John Sillitoe, Rory N. Gunson, Simon Cottrell, Justin O’Grady, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Patrick J. Lillie, Nicholas Cortes, Nathan Moore, Claire Thomas, Phillipa J. Burns, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Steven Liggett, Angela H. Beckett, Matthew TG. Holden, Lisa J. Levett, Husam Osman, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, David A. Simpson, Meera Chand, Ravi K. Gupta, Alistair C. Darby, Steve Paterson, Oliver G. Pybus, Erik M. Volz, Daniela de Angelis, David L. Robertson, Andrew J. Page, Inigo Martincorena, Louise Aigrain, Andrew R. Bassett, Nick Wong, Yusri Taha, Michelle J. Erkiert, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Rebecca Dewar, Martin P. McHugh, Siddharth Mookerjee, Stephen Aplin, Matthew Harvey, Thea Sass, Helen Umpleby, Helen Wheeler, James P. McKenna, Ben Warne, Joshua F. Taylor, Yasmin Chaudhry, Rhys Izuagbe, Aminu S. Jahun, Gregory R. Young, Claire McMurray, Clare M. McCann, Andrew Nelson, Scott Elliott, Hannah Lowe, Anna Price, Matthew R. Crown, Sara Rey, Sunando Roy, Ben Temperton, Sharif Shaaban, Andrew R. Hesketh, Kenneth G. Laing, Irene M. Monahan, Judith Heaney, Emanuela Pelosi, Siona Silviera, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Helen Fryer, Helen Adams, Louis du Plessis, Rob Johnson, William T. Harvey, Joseph Hughes, Richard J. Orton, Lewis G. Spurgin, Yann Bourgeois, Chris Ruis, Áine O'Toole, Marina Gourtovaia, Theo Sanderson, Christophe Fraser, Jonathan Edgeworth, Judith Breuer, Stephen L. Michell, John A. Todd, Michaela John, David Buck, Kavitha Gajee, Gemma L. Kay, David Heyburn, Themoula Charalampous, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Katie Kitchman, Alan McNal, David T. Pritch, Samir Dervisevic, Peter Muir, Esther Robinson, Barry B. Vipond, Newara A. Ramadan, Christopher Jeanes, Danni Weldon, Jana Catalan, Neil Jones, Ana da Silva Filipe, Chris Williams, Marc Fuchs, Julia Miskelly, Aaron R. Jeffries, Karen Oliver, Naomi R. Park, Amy Ash, Cherian Koshy, Magdalena Barrow, Sarah L. Buchan, Anna Mantzouratou, Gemma Clark, Christopher W. Holmes, Sharon Campbell, Thomas Davis, Ngee Keong Tan, Julianne R. Brown, Kathryn A. Harris, Stephen P. Kidd, Paul R. Grant, Li Xu-McCrae, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Marcus Pond, Paul A. Randell, Karen T. Withell, Cheryl Williams, Clive Graham, Rebecca Denton-Smith, Emma Swindells, Robyn Turnbull, Tim J. Sloan, Andrew Bosworth, Stephanie Hutchings, Hannah M. Pymont, Anna Casey, Liz Ratcliffe, Christopher R. Jones, Bridget A. Knight, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Eric Witele, Craig Mower, Louisa K. Watson DipHE, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Dorian Crudgington, Ben Macklin, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Anita O. Lucaci, Patrick C. McClure, Matthew Carlile, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Nathaniel Storey, Stefan Rooke, Gonzalo Yebra, Noel Craine, Malorie Perry, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Stephen Bridgett, Kate F. Cook, Christopher Fearn, Salman Goudarzi, Ronan A. Lyons, Thomas Williams, Sam T. Haldenby, Jillian Durham, Steven Leonard, Robert M. Davies, Rahul Batra, Beth Blane, Moira J. Spyer, Perminder Smith, Mehmet Yavus, Rachel J. Williams, Adhyana IK. Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Sophia T. Girgis, Samantha E. Hansford, Angie Green, Charlotte Beaver, Katherine L. Bellis, Matthew J. Dorman, Sally Kay, Liam Prestwood, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Joshua Quick, Radoslaw Poplawski, Nicola Reynolds, Andrew Mack, Arthur Morriss, Thomas Whalley, Bindi Patel, Iliana Georgana, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L. Pinckert, Joanne Stockton, John H. Henderson, Amy Hollis, William Stanley, Wen C. Yew, Richard Myers, Alicia Thornton, Alexander Adams, Tara Annett, Hibo Asad, Alec Birchley, Jason Coombes, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Jessica Hey, Ember Hilvers, Sophie Jones, Hannah Jones, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Caoimhe McKerr, Jessica Powell, Georgia Pugh, Sarah Taylor, Alexander J. Trotter, Charlotte A. Williams, Leanne M. Kermack, Benjamin H. Foulkes, Marta Gallis, Hailey R. Hornsby, Stavroula F. Louka, Manoj Pohare, Paige Wolverson, Peijun Zhang, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Amy Trebes, Robin J. Moll, Lynne Ferguson, Emily J. Goldstein, Alasdair Maclean, Rachael Tomb, Igor Starinskij, Laura Thomson, Joel Southgate, Moritz UG. Kraemer, Jayna Raghwani, Alex E. Zarebski, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Chris J. Illingworth, Chris Jackson, David Pascall, Sreenu Vattipally, Timothy M. Freeman, Sharon N. Hsu, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Keith James, Kevin Lewis, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, MacGregor Cox, Khalil Abudahab, Mirko Menegazzo, Ben EW. Taylor, Corin A. Yeats, Afrida Mukaddas, Derek W. Wright, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Rachel Colquhoun, Verity Hill, Ben Jackson, J.T. McCrone, Nathan Medd, Emily Scher, Jon-Paul Keatley, Tanya Curran, Sian Morgan, Patrick Maxwell, Ken Smith, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Alison H. Holmes, James R. Price, Tim Wyatt, Alison E. Mather, Timofey Skvortsov, John A. Hartley, Martyn Guest, Christine Kitchen, Ian Merrick, Robert Munn, Beatrice Bertolusso, Jessica Lynch, Gabrielle Vernet, Stuart Kirk, Elizabeth Wastnedge, Rachael Stanley, Giles Idle, Declan T. Bradley, Nicholas F. Killough, Jennifer Poyner, Matilde Mori, Owen Jones, Victoria Wright, Ellena Brooks, Carol M. Churcher, Laia Delgado Callico, Mireille Fragakis, Katerina Galai, Andrew Jermy, Sarah Judges, Anna Markov, Georgina M. McManus, Kim S. Smith, Peter MD. Thomas-McEwen, Elaine Westwick, Stephen W. Attwood, Frances Bolt, Alisha Davies, Elen De Lacy, Fatima Downing, Sue Edwards, Lizzie Meadows, Sarah Jeremiah, Nikki Smith, Luke Foulser, Amita Patel, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Vicki M. Fleming, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Amelia Joseph, Manjinder Khakh, Michelle M. Lister, Paul W. Bird, Karlie Fallon, Thomas Helmer, Claire L. McMurray, Mina Odedra, Jessica Shaw, Julian W. Tang, Nicholas J. Willford, Victoria Blakey, Veena Raviprakash, Nicola Sheriff, Lesley-Anne Williams, Theresa Feltwell, Luke Bedford, James S. Cargill, Warwick Hughes, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Laura Atkinson, Jack CD. Lee, Divya Shah, Natasha Ohemeng-Kumi, John Ramble, Jasveen Sehmi, Rebecca Williams, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, William Everson, Anibolina Castigador, Emily Macnaughton, Kate El Bouzidi, Temi Lampejo, Malur Sudhanva, Cassie Breen, Graciela Sluga, Shazaad SY. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Nicholas W. Machin, Debbie Binns, Victoria James, Rachel Blacow, Lindsay Coupland, Louise Smith, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Aidan Cross, Mariyam Mirfenderesky, Jane Greenaway, Kevin Cole, Phillip Clarke, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Kelly Bicknell, Robert Impey, Sarah Wyllie, Richard Hopes, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Ian Harrison, Laura Gifford, Zoltan Molnar, Cressida Auckland, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Leanne J. Murray, Andrew I. Lawton, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Brendan AI. Payne, Sheila Waugh, Andrea N. Gomes, Maimuna Kimuli, Darren R. Murray, Paula Ashfield, Donald Dobie, Fiona Ashford, Angus Best, Liam Crawford, Nicola Cumley, Megan Mayhew, Oliver Megram, Jeremy Mirza, Emma Moles-Garcia, Benita Percival, Megan Driscoll, Leah Ensell, Helen L. Lowe, Laurentiu Maftei, Matteo Mondani, Nicola J. Chaloner, Benjamin J. Cogger, Lisa J. Easton, Hannah Huckson, Jonathan Lewis, Sarah Lowdon, Cassandra S. Malone, Florence Munemo, Manasa Mutingwende, Roberto Nicodemi, Olga Podplomyk FD, Thomas Somassa, Andrew Beggs, Alex Richter, Claire Cormie, Joana Dias, Sally Forrest, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Rose K. Davidson, Kathryn A. Jackson, Alexander J. Keeley, Jonathan Ball, Timothy Byaruhanga, Joseph G. Chappell, Jayasree Dey, Jack D. Hill, Emily J. Park, Arezou Fanaie, Rachel A. Hilson, Geraldine Yaze, Stephanie Lo, Safiah Afifi, Robert Beer, Joshua Maksimovic, Kathryn McCluggage, Karla Spellman, Catherine Bresner, William Fuller, Angela Marchbank, Trudy Workma, Ekaterina Shelest, Johnny Debebe, Fei Sang, Sarah Francois, Bernardo Gutierrez, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Flavia Flaviani, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Katherine L. Smollett, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Kyriaki Nomikou, Lily Tong, Ioulia Tsatsani, Sarah O'Brien, Steven Rushton, Roy Sanderson, Jon Perkins, Seb Cotton, Abbie Gallagher, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, David Bibby, Gavin Dabrer, Nicholas Ellaby, Eileen Gallagher, Jonathan Hubb, Angie Lackenby, David Lee, Nikos Manesis, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Katherine A. Twohig, Mari Morgan, Alp Aydin, David J. Baker, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Sophie J. Prosolek, Steven Rudder, Chris Baxter, Sílvia F. Carvalho, Deborah Lavin, Arun Mariappan, Clara Radulescu, Aditi Singh, Miao Tang, Helen Morcrette, Nadua Bayzid, Marius Cotic, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Daniel Maloney, Thomas D. Stanton, Kathleen A. Williamson, Robin Manley, Michelle L. Michelsen, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Richard Eccles, Matthew Gemmell, Richard Gregory, Margaret Hughes, Charlotte Nelson, Lucille Rainbow, Edith E. Vamos, Hermione J. Webster, Mark Whitehead, Claudia Wierzbicki, Adrienn Angyal, Luke R. Green, Max Whiteley, Emma Betteridge, Iraad F. Bronner, Ben W. Farr, Scott Goodwin, Stefanie V. Lensing, Shane A. McCarthy, Michael A. Quail, Diana Rajan, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, Scott AJ. Thurston, Will Rowe, Amy Gaskin, Thanh Le-Viet, James Bonfield, Jennifier Liddle, Andrew Whitwham, University of St Andrews. School of Medicine, University of St Andrews. Infection and Global Health Division, and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Subjects: Microbiology (medical), MCC, Introduction, SARS-CoV-2, NDAS, COVID-19, Care homes, General Medicine, NIS, Patient Discharge, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Infectious Diseases, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being, RA0421, RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine, Humans, Hospital discharge
Abstract: COG-UK is supported by funding from the MRC part of UK Research & Innovation, the National Institute of Health Research (Grant code MC_PC_19027), and Genome Research Limited, operating as the Welcome Sanger Institute. Background The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes. Aim To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave. Methods A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records. Findings In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home. Conclusion The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine. Publisher PDF
Published: 2023

13. UropathogenicEscherichia colipopulation structure and antimicrobial susceptibility in Norfolk, UK

Author: Cailean Carter, Alexandra Hutchison, Steven Rudder, Elizabeth Trotter, Emma Waters, Ngozi Elumogo, and Gemma C. Langridge
Abstract: SynopsisBackgroundHalf of all women have experienced a urinary tract infection (UTI) in their lifetime and this remains a persistent issue in rural counties like Norfolk, UK. In alignment globally, UropathogenicE. coli(UPEC) are the main etiological agent for UTIs in Norfolk and are increasingly difficult to treat due to multi-drug resistance (MDR).ObjectiveWe set out to identify which clonal groups and resistance genes are disseminating in the community and hospitals in Norfolk, the first study of its kind for UPEC in this region.MethodsWe collected 217 clinicalE. coliisolates causing UTIs in the community and hospital from the Clinical Microbiology laboratory at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. These were whole genome sequenced using the Illumina and MinION platforms forin silicomulti-locus sequence typing and antibiotic resistance determinant detection.ResultsThe isolates were composed of 74 sequence types (STs); 8 lineages represented 57% of this population: ST73, ST12, ST69, ST131, ST404, ST95, ST127, and ST1193. Importantly, primary UTI screening deemed 8% of isolates to be MDR, with high rates of resistance to ampicillin (52.1%) and trimethoprim (36.2%) in hospitals. Of concern is the probable clonal expansion of MDR groups ST131 and ST1193 in hospitals and community settings with chromosomally encodedblaCTX-M-15,blaOXA-1, and aac(6’)-Ib-cr5.ConclusionsThe burden of reported UTIs in Norfolk is largely caused by non-MDR isolates. The UPEC population is continually evolving, and monitoring samples with consideration of sources will help reduce burden of disease.
Published: 2023
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14. Assessing transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 in England

Author: Daniel Mair, Adrian Signell, Daniel Laydon, Nadua Bayzid, Clare M McCann, Flavia Flaviani, Thomas Connor, Samir Bhatt, Catherine Moore, Dr Benjamin Lindsey, Malte Pinckert, Jane Masoli, Rachel Blacow, Jacqui Prieto, Ian Harrison, Scott Thurston, Lance Turtle, Thushan De Silva, Gregory Young, Natalie Groves, Andrew Nelson, Angie Lackenby, Lily Geidelberg, Mili Estee Torok, Brendan Payne, Katy Gaythorpe, Sonia Goncalves, Ewan Harrison, Andrew Rambaut, Angela Beckett, David Partridge, Swapnil Mishra, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Judith Breuer, Jenna Nichols, Erik Volz, Sharon Glaysher, Harry David Wilson, Jack Lee, Marta Gallis, Christophe Fraser, Susan Hopkins, Patrick McClure, Derrick Crook, Juan Ledesma, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Natasha Palmalux, Matthew Dorman, Helen Lowe, Kordo Saeed, Oliver Ratmann, Darren Smith, Gilberto Betancor Quintana, Alan McNally, Matthew Bashton, Steven Rudder, Dennis Wang, Joseph Chappell, Elias Allara, Volz, Erik [0000-0001-6268-8937], Mishra, Swapnil [0000-0002-8759-5902], Geidelberg, Lily [0000-0002-8057-1844], Laydon, Daniel J [0000-0003-4270-3321], Jackson, Ben [0000-0002-9981-0649], Gaythorpe, Katy [0000-0003-3734-9081], Kwiatkowski, Dominic P [0000-0002-5023-0176], Flaxman, Seth [0000-0002-2477-4217], Gandy, Axel [0000-0002-6777-0451], Rambaut, Andrew [0000-0003-4337-3707], Ferguson, Neil M [0000-0002-1154-8093], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, Medical Research Council, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Medical Research Council (MRC)
Subjects: The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Adult, 0301 basic medicine, Time Factors, Adolescent, General Science & Technology, Lineage (evolution), Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Basic Reproduction Number, Population genetics, Genome, Viral, Biology, law.invention, Evolution, Molecular, Young Adult, 03 medical and health sciences, Age Distribution, 0302 clinical medicine, law, Phylogenetics, Humans, 030212 general & internal medicine, Child, Phylogeny, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Science & Technology, Multidisciplinary, Generation time, SARS-CoV-2, Infant, Newborn, COVID-19, Infant, Middle Aged, Transmissibility (vibration), 3. Good health, Multidisciplinary Sciences, 030104 developmental biology, Transmission (mechanics), England, Evolutionary biology, Child, Preschool, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus, Science & Technology - Other Topics, Basic reproduction number
Abstract: The SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7, designated variant of concern (VOC) 202012/01 by Public Health England1, was first identified in the UK in late summer to early autumn 20202. Whole-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequence data collected from community-based diagnostic testing for COVID-19 show an extremely rapid expansion of the B.1.1.7 lineage during autumn 2020, suggesting that it has a selective advantage. Here we show that changes in VOC frequency inferred from genetic data correspond closely to changes inferred by S gene target failures (SGTF) in community-based diagnostic PCR testing. Analysis of trends in SGTF and non-SGTF case numbers in local areas across England shows that B.1.1.7 has higher transmissibility than non-VOC lineages, even if it has a different latent period or generation time. The SGTF data indicate a transient shift in the age composition of reported cases, with cases of B.1.1.7 including a larger share of under 20-year-olds than non-VOC cases. We estimated time-varying reproduction numbers for B.1.1.7 and co-circulating lineages using SGTF and genomic data. The best-supported models did not indicate a substantial difference in VOC transmissibility among different age groups, but all analyses agreed that B.1.1.7 has a substantial transmission advantage over other lineages, with a 50% to 100% higher reproduction number.
Published: 2021
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15. CoronaHiT: high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes

Author: Alexander J. Trotter, Emma Meader, Maria Diaz, Alp Aydin, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Lizzie Meadows, Reenesh Prakash, Steven Rudder, Ana P. Tedim, Alison E. Mather, Anastasia Kolyva, Justin O'Grady, Andrew J. Page, Dave Baker, Thanh Le-Viet, Mark A. Webber, Ian G. Charles, Nicholas M. Thomson, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Rachel Gilroy, Rachael Stanley, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, John Wain, Samir Dervisevic, Gemma L. Kay, Ngozi Elumogo, Andrew Bell, Luke Griffith, Page, Andrew J [0000-0001-6919-6062], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Subjects: 0301 basic medicine, Nanopore, Scale (ratio), lcsh:QH426-470, Computer science, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 030106 microbiology, Pcr cloning, Method, lcsh:Medicine, Computational biology, Genome, Viral, Biology, Multiplexing, Genome, DNA sequencing, 03 medical and health sciences, Genetic, Genetics, Humans, Sequencing, ARTIC, Molecular Biology, Pandemics, Genetics (clinical), Transposase, Whole genome sequencing, Whole Genome Sequencing, SARS-CoV-2, lcsh:R, COVID-19, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, lcsh:Genetics, 030104 developmental biology, Minion, NGS, Molecular Medicine, RNA, Viral, Nanopore sequencing
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost every country in the world since it started in China in late 2019. Controlling the pandemic requires a multifaceted approach including whole genome sequencing to support public health interventions at local and national levels. One of the most widely used methods for sequencing is the ARTIC protocol, a tiling PCR approach followed by Oxford Nanopore sequencing (ONT) of up to 96 samples at a time. There is a need, however, for a flexible, platform agnostic, method that can provide multiple throughput options depending on changing requirements as the pandemic peaks and troughs. Here we present CoronaHiT, a method capable of multiplexing up to 96 small genomes on a single MinION flowcell or >384 genomes on Illumina NextSeq, using transposase mediated addition of adapters and PCR based addition of barcodes to ARTIC PCR products. We demonstrate the method by sequencing 95 and 59 SARS-CoV-2 genomes for routine and rapid outbreak response runs, respectively, on Nanopore and Illumina platforms and compare to the standard ARTIC LoCost nanopore method. Of the 154 samples sequenced using the three approaches, genomes with ≥ 90% coverage (GISAID criteria) were generated for 64.3% of samples for ARTIC LoCost, 71.4% for CoronaHiT-ONT, and 76.6% for CoronaHiT-Illumina and have almost identical clustering on a maximum likelihood tree. In conclusion, we demonstrate that CoronaHiT can multiplex up to 96 SARS-CoV-2 genomes per MinION flowcell and that Illumina sequencing can be performed on the same libraries, which will allow significantly higher throughput. CoronaHiT provides increased coverage for higher Ct samples, thereby increasing the number of high quality genomes that pass the GISAID QC threshold. This protocol will aid the rapid expansion of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing globally, to help control the pandemic.
Published: 2021

16. Hospital admission and emergency care attendance risk for SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) compared with alpha (B.1.1.7) variants of concern: a cohort study

Author: Harry D Wilson, Elaine O'Toole, Andrew Bassett, Moritz U. G. Kraemer, Beth Blane, Scott Goodwin, Giri Shankar, Joseph Hughes, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Scott Elliott, Tammy V Merrill, Sheila Waugh, Alexander Adams, Peter Muir, Graciela Sluga, Rebecca Williams, Hannah Dent, Christophe Fraser, Shavanthi Rajatileka, John C. Hartley, Luke B Snell, Benjamin J Cogger, Lance Turtle, Alex Makunin, John A. Todd, Victoria Wright, Daniela De Angelis, James McKenna, Dinesh Aggarwal, Jonathan K. Ball, Jillian Durham, Garren Scott, Thushan I de Silva, Veena Raviprakash, Hannah M Pymont, Jason Coombes, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Leigh M Jackson, Hermione J. Webster, Louis du Plessis, David A. Jackson, Minal Patel, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Marc Niebel, Garry Scarlett, Rajiv Shah, Guy Mollett, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Matthew Bashton, Carl Jones, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Zoltan Molnar, Siona Silveira, Malte L Pinckert, Catherine Ludden, Angeliki Karamani, Leanne Kane, Brendan A I Payne, Alan McNally, Clare M. McCann, Holli Carden, Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, David J. Williams, Shaun R. Seaman, Christopher I. Jones, Gilberto Betancor, Matthew T. G. Holden, Jennifier Liddle, Meera Unnikrishnan, Angie Green, Ben Taylor, Kelly Bicknell, Alexander J. Trotter, Emma Meader, Leanne M Kermack, Nathaniel Storey, Michelle Cronin, Sally Forrest, Sarah Jeremiah, Asad Zaidi, M Morgan, Alasdair MacLean, Thomas R. Connor, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Ryan P George, Nadine Holmes, Richard H. Myers, Christine Sambles, Bernardo Gutierrez, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Tim Wyatt, Natasha Jesudason, Lindsay Coupland, Monika Pusok, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Jenifer Mason, Joshua Maksimovic, Russell Hope, Alison Holmes, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Amelia Joseph, Erwan Acheson, James Bonfield, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Graham P. Taylor, Anita Kenyon, Elizabeth Wastenge, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Stavroula F Louka, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Darren Smith, Anne M. Presanis, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Dennis Wang, Katerina Galai, Adam P Westhorpe, Flavia Flaviani, Michelle Wantoch, Max Whiteley, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Mary Ramsay, A Lloyd, Simon Thelwall, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Robert Impey, Siddharth Mookerjee, Steven Platt, Emma Swindells, Laura Letchford, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Safiah Afifi, David C. Lee, Cassie Breen, Melisa Louise Fenton, Benita Percival, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Ian B Vipond, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Angie Lackenby, Laura Atkinson, Sarojini Pandey, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Michael A Chapman, Huw Gulliver, Joana Dias, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Hassan Hartman, Alp Aydin, Louise Smith, Ashok Dadrah, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Bridget Knight, Hannah E Bridgewater, Nadua Bayzid, Gemma L. Kay, Richard Gregory, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Andre Charlett, Georgina M McManus, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Carol Scott, Rachel Nelson, Liz Ratcliffe, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Verity Hill, Joanne D. Stockton, Danielle Leek, Steven Leonard, Stephanie Hutchings, Jonathan D. Moore, Kathryn Ann Harris, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Tanzina Haque, Katherine L. Bellis, Khalil Abudahab, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Gaia Nebbia, Kathryn A Jackson, Stephen W Attwood, Daniel Mair, Sreenu Vattipally, Susanne Stonehouse, Ian Merrick, Lucille Rainbow, Mathew A. Beale, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Thomas Helmer, Jenna Nichols, Giselda Bucca, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Ruis, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Alberto C Cerda, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, E. Thomson, Kyriaki Nomikou, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, M. Estée Török, Michelle L Michelsen, Aaron R. Jeffries, Jennifer Collins, Christopher Williams, Katie F. Loveson, Steven Rudder, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Robert Davies, David Robertson, Katherine Smollett, Kathryn McCluggage, Liam Crawford, Inigo Martincorena, Charlotte Beaver, Oliver Megram, Karla Spellman, Sam Haldenby, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Will P. M. Rowe, Cherian Koshy, Tim E. A. Peto, Alison Cox, Natasha Johnson, Tanya Curran, Sharif Shaaban, Tamyo Mbisa, Cordelia Langford, Eric Witele, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Paul W Bird, Louise Aigrain, Ronan Lyons, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Steven Rushton, Jack Cd Lee, Jane Greenaway, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Shane McCarthy, Fei Sang, Matthew Loose, Hannah Jones, Keith D. James, Chloe L Fisher, Chrystala Constantinidou, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Anna Price, Amy Ash, Michaela John, Alex Zarebski, Fenella D. Halstead, John Danesh, Christine Kitchen, Aminu S Jahun, Mark Whitehead, Julianne R Brown, Catherine Bresner, Marius Cotic, Stefanie V Lensing, Nick Levene, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Jennifer Hart, Seema Nickbakhsh, Alisha Davies, David M. Aanensen, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Ben Farr, Buddhini Samaraweera, Sarah Wyllie, Hannah Lowe, Richard J. Orton, Martin D. Curran, Carol Churcher, Karen Oliver, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Wen Yew, Thanh Le-Viet, Matthew Parker, Katherine A Twohig, Shahjahan Miah, Samuel M. Nicholls, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Tranprit Saluja, Charlotte Nelson, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Ellen Higginson, Timothy M. Freeman, Christopher W Holmes, Yasmin Chaudhry, Elias Allara, Alec Birchley, Iraad Bronner, Emma Moles-Garcia, Angus I. Best, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Nicholas W Machin, David W Eyre, Tim Boswell, Charlotte A Williams, Elen De Lacy, Matthew J. Bull, Matilde Mori, Carmen F. Manso, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, David G Partridge, Kordo Saeed, Nichola Duckworth, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Juan Ledesma, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Husam Osman, Julian A. Hiscox, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Fabrícia F. Nascimento, Ulf Schaefer, James W. Harrison, Andrew J. Nelson, Joshua Quick, Mohammad Tauqeer Alam, Liam Prestwood, Nikos Manesis, Julian Tang, Justin O'Grady, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Clare Pearson, Andrew D Beggs, Rachel Williams, Luke Bedford, Trevor Robinson, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Mirko Menegazzo, Katherine Twohig, Gabrielle Vernet, Steven Liggett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Derrick W. Crook, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Christopher I. Moore, Claire Cormie, Olivia Boyd, Nikki Smith, Noel Craine, Kathleen A. Williamson, John Boyes, Sian Ellard, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, David Bonsall, Kevin Lewis, David Jorgensen, Ian Harrison, Christopher Jackson, Martin P McHugh, Danni Weldon, Michael A. Quail, Amita Patel, Lily Geidelberg, Myra Hosmillo, Judith Breuer, Cariad Evans, Edward Barton, Trudy Workman, Derek Fairley, Vineet Patel, Daniel Bradshaw, Robin Manley, Scott Aj Thurston, John Sillitoe, Monique Andersson, Sharon J. Peacock, Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Thomas Thompson, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Ben Temperton, Paul Baker, Robin J Moll, Laura Gifford, Nicholas J. Loman, Jayna Raghwani, Jacqui Prieto, Andrew Hesketh, Oliver G. Pybus, Adela Alcolea-Medina, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Alistair C. Darby, Sónia Gonçalves, Aileen G. Rowan, Tabitha Mahungu, Nicholas Ellaby, Jon-Paul Keatley, Lily Tong, Robert Beer, Martyn Guest, Lisa J Levett, Ali R Awan, Iliana Georgana, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Stephen P. Kidd, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Danielle C. Groves, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Nathan Moore, Fiona Ashcroft, Igor Starinskij, Hannah Paul, Claire McMurray, Michael Spencer Chapman, Carlos Balcazar, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Edith Vamos, Lesley Shirley, Kate Templeton, Luke Foulser, Igor Siveroni, Ewan M. Harrison, Sian Morgan, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Laia Fina, Naomi Park, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Angela Marchbank, Sunando Roy, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Steve Palmer, Jonathan Hubb, Alexander J Keeley, Francesc Coll, Malorie Perry, Paul J. Parsons, Anthony Underwood, Patawee Asamaphan, William L Hamilton, Tommy Nyberg, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, Anoop Chauhan, Robert Johnson, Christopher J. R. Illingworth, James Shepherd, Wendy Smith, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Jeremy Mirza, Joanne Watts, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Sarah François, Sue Edwards, Adrienn Angyal, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Paul Randell, Kate Johnson, Eileen Gallagher, Nick Cortes, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Stefan Rooke, Michelle Lister, Ana da Silva Filipe, Cassandra S Malone, Themoula Charalampous, Benjamin B Lindsey, Natalie Groves, Colin Smith, Ross J Harris, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Rachel Jones, Ben Warne, Rose K Davidson, Declan Bradley, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Shirin Aliabadi, Andrew Whitwham, Patrick McClure, Samuel Robson, Sharon Glaysher, Robert J. Munn, Emma L. Wise, Laura Baxter, Kim S Smith, Catherine Moore, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Alice Broos, Sarah Essex, David Baker, Manjinder Khakh, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Robin Howe, Meera Chand, James I. Price, Marina Gourtovaia, Debra Padgett, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Stephen L. Michell, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, David Heyburn, Iona Willingham, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Simon Cottrell, Rebecca C H Brown, Jamie Young, Gavin Dabrera, Matthew Wyles, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Andrew Rambaut, Samir Dervisevic, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Mary Sinnathamby, Joel Southgate, and Lynn Monaghan
Subjects: medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Proportional hazards model, Public health, Hazard ratio, Attendance, C500, Vaccination, Infectious Diseases, Relative risk, Internal medicine, Cohort, medicine, business, Cohort study
Abstract: Background: \ud The SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant was first detected in England in March, 2021. It has since rapidly become the predominant lineage, owing to high transmissibility. It is suspected that the delta variant is associated with more severe disease than the previously dominant alpha (B.1.1.7) variant. We aimed to characterise the severity of the delta variant compared with the alpha variant by determining the relative risk of hospital attendance outcomes.\ud \ud Methods: \ud This cohort study was done among all patients with COVID-19 in England between March 29 and May 23, 2021, who were identified as being infected with either the alpha or delta SARS-CoV-2 variant through whole-genome sequencing. Individual-level data on these patients were linked to routine health-care datasets on vaccination, emergency care attendance, hospital admission, and mortality (data from Public Health England's Second Generation Surveillance System and COVID-19-associated deaths dataset; the National Immunisation Management System; and NHS Digital Secondary Uses Services and Emergency Care Data Set). The risk for hospital admission and emergency care attendance were compared between patients with sequencing-confirmed delta and alpha variants for the whole cohort and by vaccination status subgroups. Stratified Cox regression was used to adjust for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, recent international travel, area of residence, calendar week, and vaccination status.\ud \ud Findings: \ud Individual-level data on 43 338 COVID-19-positive patients (8682 with the delta variant, 34 656 with the alpha variant; median age 31 years [IQR 17–43]) were included in our analysis. 196 (2·3%) patients with the delta variant versus 764 (2·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital within 14 days after the specimen was taken (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2·26 [95% CI 1·32–3·89]). 498 (5·7%) patients with the delta variant versus 1448 (4·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital or attended emergency care within 14 days (adjusted HR 1·45 [1·08–1·95]). Most patients were unvaccinated (32 078 [74·0%] across both groups). The HRs for vaccinated patients with the delta variant versus the alpha variant (adjusted HR for hospital admission 1·94 [95% CI 0·47–8·05] and for hospital admission or emergency care attendance 1·58 [0·69–3·61]) were similar to the HRs for unvaccinated patients (2·32 [1·29–4·16] and 1·43 [1·04–1·97]; p=0·82 for both) but the precision for the vaccinated subgroup was low.\ud \ud Interpretation: \ud This large national study found a higher hospital admission or emergency care attendance risk for patients with COVID-19 infected with the delta variant compared with the alpha variant. Results suggest that outbreaks of the delta variant in unvaccinated populations might lead to a greater burden on health-care services than the alpha variant.\ud \ud Funding: \ud Medical Research Council; UK Research and Innovation; Department of Health and Social Care; and National Institute for Health Research.
Published: 2022

17. Enterococcus innesii sp. nov., isolated from the wax moth Galleria mellonella

Author: Harriet C. C. Gooch, Raymond Kiu, Steven Rudder, David J. Baker, Lindsay J. Hall, and Anthony Maxwell
Subjects: vancomycin resistant, New Taxa, antibiotic resistance, Firmicutes and Related Organisms, Galleria mellonella, wax moth, General Medicine, biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition, novel species, Microbiology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Enterococcus
Abstract: Four bacterial strains were isolated from two different colony sources of the wax moth Galleria mellonella. They were characterized by a polyphasic approach including 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, core-genome analysis, average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis, digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH), determination of G+C content, screening of antibiotic resistance genes, and various phenotypic analyses. Initial analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence identities indicated that strain GAL7T was potentially very closely related to Enterococcus casseliflavus and Enterococcus gallinarum , having 99.5–99.9 % sequence similarity. However, further analysis of whole genome sequences revealed a genome size of 3.69 Mb, DNA G+C content of 42.35 mol%, and low dDDH and ANI values between the genomes of strain GAL7T and closest phylogenetic relative E. casseliflavus NBRC 100478T of 59.0 and 94.5 %, respectively, indicating identification of a putative new Enterococcus species. In addition, all novel strains encoded the atypical vancomycin-resistance gene vanC-4. Results of phylogenomic, physiological and phenotypic characterization confirmed that strain GAL7T represented a novel species within the genus Enterococcus , for which the name Enterococcus innesii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is GAL7T (=DSM 112306T=NCTC 14608T).
Published: 2021

18. Fecal microbiota transfer between young and aged mice reverses hallmarks of the aging gut, eye, and brain

Author: Aimée Parker, Stefano Romano, Rebecca Ansorge, Asmaa Aboelnour, Gwenaelle Le Gall, George M. Savva, Matthew G. Pontifex, Andrea Telatin, David Baker, Emily Jones, David Vauzour, Steven Rudder, L. Ashley Blackshaw, Glen Jeffery, and Simon R. Carding
Subjects: Microbiology (medical), Inflammation, Aging, Mice, Animals, Brain, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, digestive system, Microbiology, Gastrointestinal Microbiome
Abstract: Background Altered intestinal microbiota composition in later life is associated with inflammaging, declining tissue function, and increased susceptibility to age-associated chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative dementias. Here, we tested the hypothesis that manipulating the intestinal microbiota influences the development of major comorbidities associated with aging and, in particular, inflammation affecting the brain and retina. Methods Using fecal microbiota transplantation, we exchanged the intestinal microbiota of young (3 months), old (18 months), and aged (24 months) mice. Whole metagenomic shotgun sequencing and metabolomics were used to develop a custom analysis workflow, to analyze the changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolic potential. Effects of age and microbiota transfer on the gut barrier, retina, and brain were assessed using protein assays, immunohistology, and behavioral testing. Results We show that microbiota composition profiles and key species enriched in young or aged mice are successfully transferred by FMT between young and aged mice and that FMT modulates resulting metabolic pathway profiles. The transfer of aged donor microbiota into young mice accelerates age-associated central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, retinal inflammation, and cytokine signaling and promotes loss of key functional protein in the eye, effects which are coincident with increased intestinal barrier permeability. Conversely, these detrimental effects can be reversed by the transfer of young donor microbiota. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that the aging gut microbiota drives detrimental changes in the gut–brain and gut–retina axes suggesting that microbial modulation may be of therapeutic benefit in preventing inflammation-related tissue decline in later life. Graphical abstract
Published: 2021

19. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern dominate in Lahore, Pakistan in April 2021

Author: Muhammad Bilal Sarwar, Muhammad Yasir, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Nadeem Afzal, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le Viet, Alexander J. Trotter, Sophie J. Prosolek, Gemma L. Kay, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Steven Rudder, David J. Baker, Sidra Tul Muntaha, Muhammad Roman, Mark A. Webber, Almina Shafiq, Bilquis Shabbir, Javed Akram, Andrew J. Page, and Shah Jahan
Subjects: Adult, Aged, 80 and over, Male, COVID-19 Vaccines, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, General Medicine, Genome, Viral, Pathogens and Epidemiology, sequencing, Middle Aged, genomic epidemiology, Young Adult, NGS, Humans, Female, Pakistan, ARTIC, Pandemics, genome, Phylogeny, Research Articles, Aged
Abstract: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to expand globally, with case numbers rising in many areas of the world, including the Indian sub-continent. Pakistan has one of the world’s largest populations, of over 200 million people and is experiencing a severe third wave of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 that began in March 2021. In Pakistan, during the third wave until now only 12 SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been collected and among these nine are from Islamabad. This highlights the need for more genome sequencing to allow surveillance of variants in circulation. In fact, more genomes are available among travellers with a travel history from Pakistan, than from within the country itself. We thus aimed to provide a snapshot assessment of circulating lineages in Lahore and surrounding areas with a combined population of 11.1 million. Within a week of April 2021, 102 samples were sequenced. The samples were randomly collected from two hospitals with a diagnostic PCR cutoff value of less than 25 cycles. Analysis of the lineages shows that the Alpha variant of concern (first identified in the UK) dominates, accounting for 97.9 % (97/99) of cases, with the Beta variant of concern (first identified in South Africa) accounting for 2.0 % (2/99) of cases. No other lineages were observed. In depth analysis of the Alpha lineages indicated multiple separate introductions and subsequent establishment within the region. Eight samples were identical to genomes observed in Europe (seven UK, one Switzerland), indicating recent transmission. Genomes of other samples show evidence that these have evolved, indicating sustained transmission over a period of time either within Pakistan or other countries with low-density genome sequencing. Vaccines remain effective against Alpha, however, the low level of Beta against which some vaccines are less effective demonstrates the requirement for continued prospective genomic surveillance.
Published: 2021

20. Exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, and vaccine effectiveness associated with the Delta variant

Author: Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Gilberto Betancor, Ian Merrick, Ben Taylor, Mathew A. Beale, Helen Ward, Samir Dervisevic, Michelle Cronin, Aaron R. Jeffries, Louise Smith, Steven Rudder, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Ashok Dadrah, Luke Bedford, Gabrielle Vernet, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Johnny Debebe, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Oliver Megram, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Emma Swindells, Robert E. Johnson, Myra Hosmillo, Wen C Yew, Vineet Patel, Scott Aj Thurston, Matthew Bashton, Luke B Snell, Lynn Monaghan, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Garren Scott, Louis du Plessis, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, David M. Aanensen, Carl Jones, Nadine Holmes, Bernardo Gutierrez, Elizabeth Wastenge, Stavroula F Louka, Dennis Wang, Richard I. Gregory, M. Estée Török, Alistair C. Darby, Ulf Schaefer, Marc Niebel, David Robertson, E. Thomson, Carol Churcher, Patrick C McClure, Scott Elliott, Sarah Jeremiah, Katerina Galai, Matthew W. Loose, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Angeliki Karamani, Naomi R Park, David J. Williams, Lance Turtle, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Jennifier Liddle, M Morgan, Tim Wyatt, Paul W Bird, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Alasdair MacLean, Inigo Martincorena, Bridget A. Knight, Emma Meader, Thomas R. Connor, Hermione J. Webster, Peter Muir, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Hannah E Bridgewater, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Angus I. Best, David Baker, Laura Letchford, Cassie Breen, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Nikki Smith, Alison Holmes, Iliana Georgana, Christophe Fraser, Natasha Jesudason, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Hannah Lowe, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Paul A. Baker, Alex Makunin, James Bonfield, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Peter J. Diggle, Harry D Wilson, Carmen F. Manso, Nichola Duckworth, D Haw, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Sam Haldenby, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Elen De Lacy, Ben Farr, Eric Witele, Buddhini Samaraweera, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Husam Osman, Jane Greenaway, Justin O'Grady, Sally Forrest, Andrew Nelson, Monika Pusok, A Lloyd, Edward Barton, James W. Harrison, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, James Shepherd, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Stephen L. Michell, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Fiona Ashcroft, Daniel Mair, Richard H. Myers, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Jacqui Prieto, Christine Sambles, Andrew Hesketh, Alp Aydin, Sónia Gonçalves, Tabitha Mahungu, Tanzina Haque, Nicholas Ellaby, Karen Oliver, Hannah Paul, Joanne Watts, Claire McMurray, Lisa J Levett, Darren Smith, Simon Cottrell, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, Ali R Awan, Leanne M Kermack, Jennifer Hart, Angie Lackenby, Carol Scott, Michael Spencer Chapman, Lucille Rainbow, Kyriaki Nomikou, Julianne R Brown, Juan Ledesma, Adam P Westhorpe, Giri Shankar, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Robert Impey, Sue Edwards, Rebecca C H Brown, Robin J Moll, Karla Spellman, Laura Gifford, Jamie Young, Adrienn Angyal, Graham Phillip Taylor, Robin Manley, Gavin Dabrera, Michelle Wantoch, Rachel Williams, David Heyburn, Mirko Menegazzo, Derrick W. Crook, Gaia Nebbia, Rachel Nelson, Elaine O'Toole, Luke Foulser, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, Hassan Hartman, Nathan Moore, Gemma L. Kay, Matthew Wyles, Thanh Le-Viet, Edith Vamos, John Sillitoe, Lesley Shirley, Nicholas J. Loman, Iona Willingham, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Ian B Vipond, Jeremy Mirza, Alberto C Cerda, Michelle L Michelsen, Steven Riley, Alison Cox, Igor Siveroni, Nadua Bayzid, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Giselda Bucca, Benjamin J Cogger, Tim Boswell, Matthew J. Bull, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Kylie E. C. Ainslie, Martyn Guest, Sarojini Pandey, Katherine L. Bellis, Shane A. McCarthy, Christopher Ruis, Fei Sang, David Bonsall, Danni Weldon, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Huw Gulliver, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Dinesh Aggarwal, Tanya Curran, Jonathan K. Ball, Sharif Shaaban, Paul Randell, Jillian Durham, Alec Birchley, Matilde Mori, Joana Dias, Katherine A Twohig, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Alan McNally, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Safiah Afifi, Andrew Rambaut, Katherine Smollett, David N. Lee, Tamyo Mbisa, Shahjahan Miah, Steven Rushton, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Hannah M Pymont, Chloe L Fisher, Cordelia Langford, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Kathleen A. Williamson, Anna Price, Holli Carden, Khalil Abudahab, Joanne D. Stockton, Meera Unnikrishnan, Jennifer Collins, Emma Moles-Garcia, Michaela John, Christine Kitchen, Tranprit Saluja, Ian Harrison, Lily Tong, Thomas G. Thompson, Thomas Helmer, Amita Patel, Siona Silveira, Deborah Ashby, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Brendan A I Payne, Alexander J. Trotter, Nikos Manesis, Katie F. Loveson, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, Robert J. Munn, Julian A. Hiscox, Robert Beer, Judith Breuer, Caroline E. Walters, Liam Crawford, Ara Darzi, Will P. M. Rowe, Cariad Evans, Matthew Parker, Tammy V Merrill, Louise Aigrain, Joshua Quick, Leigh M Jackson, Samuel M. Nicholls, Jonathan W. Moore, John A Hartley, Graham P. Taylor, Cherian Koshy, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Catherine Moore, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Derek Fairley, Tim E. A. Peto, Jack Cd Lee, Sharon Glaysher, Liam Prestwood, Hannah Dent, Anita Kenyon, Stephen P. Kidd, Nick Levene, Igor Starinskij, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Laia Fina, Angela Marchbank, Daniel Bradshaw, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Scott Goodwin, Andrew D Beggs, Seema Nickbakhsh, Trevor Robinson, Christina Atchison, David K. Jackson, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Sunando Roy, Graham S Cooke, Steven Liggett, Yasmin Chaudhry, Anoop Chauhan, Ben Temperton, Mariateresa de Cesare, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Martin P McHugh, Catherine Ludden, Wendy Smith, Danielle Leek, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Kate M. Johnson, Robin Howe, Malorie Perry, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Haowei Wang, Steve Palmer, Nicholas W Machin, Charlotte A Williams, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Angie Green, John A. Todd, Paul Elliott, Noel Craine, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Kate Templeton, Jonathan Hubb, Joshua Maksimovic, Christl A. Donnelly, Monique Andersson, Christopher Holmes, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Christopher B. Williams, David G Partridge, Aminu S Jahun, Alexander Adams, Marius Cotic, Sarah Essex, Christopher J. Moore, Trudy Workman, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Ewan M. Harrison, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Jones, Ellen Higginson, Erwan Acheson, Christopher R. Jones, Oliver G. Pybus, Francesc Coll, Sian Morgan, Paul J. Parsons, Patawee Asamaphan, Veena Raviprakash, Andrew R. Bassett, Declan Bradley, Laura Atkinson, Anthony Underwood, Graciela Sluga, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Oliver Eales, Andrew Whitwham, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Nicole Pacchiarini, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jason Coombes, Robert Davies, Flavia Flaviani, Benita Percival, Jenna Nichols, Natasha M. Johnson, Salman Goudarzi, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Hannah Jones, Chrystala Constantinidou, Georgina M McManus, Minal Patel, Steven Leonard, Rebecca Williams Bmbs, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Amy Ash, John Danesh, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, Kordo Saeed, John Boyes, Michael A. Quail, Sharon J. Peacock, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Jon-Paul Keatley, Claudio Fronterre, Garry Scarlett, James McKenna, Thushan I de Silva, Malte L Pinckert, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, Rajiv Shah, Matthew T. G. Holden, Sophie J Prosolek, Nathaniel Storey, Ryan P George, Lindsay Coupland, Jenifer Mason, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Guy Mollett, Siddharth Mookerjee, Mary Ramsay, Steven Platt, Stephen W Attwood, Susanne Stonehouse, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Mark Whitehead, Catherine Bresner, Stefanie V Lensing, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Colin P. Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Charlotte Nelson, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Samuel Robson, Zoltán Molnár, Emma L. Wise, Sian Ellard, Kim S Smith, Alice Broos, Manjinder Khakh, Kathryn A Jackson, Claire Cormie, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Meera Chand, Debra Padgett, Cassandra S Malone, James V. Price, Themoula Charalampous, Ronan A Lyons, Natalie Groves, Stefan Rooke, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Michelle Lister, Carlos Balcazar, Ana da Silva Filipe, Ben Warne, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Rose K Davidson, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Kathryn McCluggage, Eileen Gallagher, Charlotte Beaver, Nick Cortes, Alisha Davies, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Elias Allara, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Adela Alcolea-Medina, William L Hamilton, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Sarah François, Melisa Louise Fenton, Liz Ratcliffe, Verity Hill, Stephanie Hutchings, Kathryn Ann Harris, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Alexander J Keeley, Beth Blane, Wendy S. Barclay, Victoria Wright, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Fenella D. Halstead, Sarah Wyllie, Iraad F. Bronner, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Leanne Kane, Clare M. McCann, Michael R Chapman, David W Eyre, Kelly Bicknell, Aileen G. Rowan, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Amelia Joseph, Max Whiteley, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Martin D. Curran, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Julian Tang, Clare Pearson, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, National Institute for Health Research, and UK Research and Innovation
Subjects: Delta, Adult, Male, 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19 Vaccines, Vaccination Coverage, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Adolescent, General Science & Technology, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Vaccine Efficacy, Biology, Young Adult, Exponential growth, Ethnicity, Prevalence, Humans, Child, Aged, Family Characteristics, Multidisciplinary, High prevalence, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium11‡, SARS-CoV-2, Age Factors, COVID-19, Middle Aged, Virology, Hospitalization, England, Socioeconomic Factors, COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing, Child, Preschool, Female, Self Report
Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections were rising during early summer 2021 in many countries as a result of the Delta variant. We assessed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction swab positivity in the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission–1 (REACT-1) study in England. During June and July 2021, we observed sustained exponential growth with an average doubling time of 25 days, driven by complete replacement of the Alpha variant by Delta and by high prevalence at younger, less-vaccinated ages. Prevalence among unvaccinated people [1.21% (95% credible interval 1.03%, 1.41%)] was three times that among double-vaccinated people [0.40% (95% credible interval 0.34%, 0.48%)]. However, after adjusting for age and other variables, vaccine effectiveness for double-vaccinated people was estimated at between ~50% and ~60% during this period in England. Increased social mixing in the presence of Delta had the potential to generate sustained growth in infections, even at high levels of vaccination.
Published: 2021

21. A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa

Author: Aida Elargoubi, John M. Morobe, Jiro Yasuda, Madisa Mine, Faustinos T. Takawira, Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum, Amal Souissi, Hela Karray, Dominique Goedhals, Michael Owusu, Mitoha O. Ayekaba, Pascale Ondoa, Bryan Fulbert Nkengfack Tegomoh, Daniel G. Amoako, Mathabo Mareka, Sameh Trabelsi, Dorcas Maruapula, Magalutcheemee Ramuth, Danny S. Park, Bamidele Soji Oderinde, Maitshwarelo I. Matsheka, Robert A. Kingsley, Philippe Dussart, Matthew Cotten, Hesham A. Elgahzaly, Oyewale Tomori, Arash Iranzadeh, Nicksy Gumede, Marta Giovanetti, Folarin Onikepe, Omoruyi E. Chukwuma, Nnaemeka Ndodo, Mba Nwando, Oladiji Femi, Sylvie L. Budiaki, Gemma L. Kay, Johnson C. Okolie, Saber Masmoudi, Okokhere Peter, Hlanai Gumbo, Sara H.A. Agwa, Mooko Sekhele, Imed Gaaloul, Sheila M. Mandanda, Enatha Mukantwari, Ngonda Saasa, Sanaâ Lemriss, Hellen Nansumba, Akano Kazeem, Upasana Ramphal, Carolyn Williamson, Belinda Louise Herring, Vagner Fonseca, Edidah M. Ong'era, Joana Q. Mends, Ahmed E Ogwell Ouma, Anika Vinze, Ahmad Sayed, Richard Phillips, Adewunmi M. Olubusuyi, Bourema Kouriba, Vivianne Gorova, John O. Gyapong, Tulio de Oliveira, Arnold W. Lambisia, Najla Kharrat, Wolfgang Preiser, Ojide Chiedozie Kingsley, Yenew K. Tebeje, Sherihane Aryeetey, Yaw Bediako, David A. Rasmussen, Wael H. Roshdy, Norosoa Harline Razanajatovo, Siham Elhamoumi, Sylvie van der Werf, Moussa Moïse Diagne, Claudia Daubenberger, Oshomah Cyril, Andrew J. Page, Uwanibe Jessica, Matoke-Muhia Damaris, Daniel J. Bridges, Sumir Panji, Mahjoub Aouni, Adnene Hammami, Simani Gaseitsiwe, Daniel Lule Bugembe, Gugu Maphalala, Kim Hae-Young, Mohamed K. Khalifa, Safietou Sankhe, Fabian H. Leendertz, Richard Njouom, Ousmane Faye, Kwabena O. Duedu, Jeffrey G. Shaffer, Tobias Schindler, Bankole Bolajoko, Cathrine Scheepers, Francisca M. Muyembe, Ajogbasile F. Victoria, Mirabeau T. Youtchou, Ayoade Femi, Amel Chtourou, Kefentse A. Tumedi, Adrienne A. Amuri, Joyce M. Ngoi, Etile Anoh, Richmond Gorman, Mohamed Abouelhoda, Ali Ahmed Yahaya, Paulo Arnaldo, Alexander J. Trotter, Lahcen Belyamani, Isaac Ssewanyana, Susan Nabadda, Arshad Ismail, Julia C. Andeko, James Emmanuel San, Susan Engelbrecht, Sikhulile Moyo, Jinal N. Bhiman, Jean-Michel Heraud, Julius J. Lutwama, Samar Metha, Amadou Diallo, Soa-Fy Andriamandimby, Rosina A. A. Carr, Edgar Simulundu, Steve A. Mundeke, Nelson B. Silochi, Shymaa S. Ahmed, Nadia Touil, Ihekweazu Chikwe, Deogratius Ssemwanga, Ilhem Boutiba-Ben Boubaker, Houriiyah Tegally, Okogbenin Sylvanus, Abdoul K. Sangare, Mulenga Mwenda, Fausta Shakiwa Mosha, Amadou A. Sall, Derek Tshiabuila, D. James Nokes, Yvan Butera, Maximillian Mpina, Adedotun-Sulaiman Kemi, Onwe E. Ogah, Jean B. Lekana-Douk, Stephen F. Schaffner, Vincent Enouf, Chantal Akoua-Koffi, Diarra Bassirou, Edwin Shumba, Deelan Doolabh, Saba Gargouri, Kayode T. Adeyemi, Wonderful T. Choga, Nicola Mulder, Inbal Gazy, Mushal Allam, Saâd El Kabbaj, Christian T. Happi, Frank Tanser, Sobajo Tope, Michael R. Wiley, Katherine J. Siddle, Charles N. Agoti, John Kayiwa, George Githinji, Diego F. Cuadros, Abdoul-Salam Ouédraogo, Fowotade Adeola, Sonia Lekana-Douki, Edith N. Ngabana, William Ampofo, U George, Elmostafa El Fahime, Jean-Claude C Makangara, Nalia Ismael, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Samar K. Kassim, Nedio Mabunda, Hafaliana Christian Ranaivoson, Tapfumanei Mashe, Sylvie Behillil, Etienne Simon-Loriere, Donwilliams O. Omuoyo, Darren P. Martin, Azeddine Ibrahimi, Paul E. Oluniyi, Richard J Lessells, My V. T. Phan, Feriel Bouzid, Salako B. Lawal, Gert U. van Zyl, Fares Wasfi, Christophe Peyrefitte, Joyce Namulondo, Ugochukwu J. Anyaneji, Mariétou Faye Paye, Augustina Sylverken, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Malebogo Kebabonye, Sophie J Prosolek, Mahmoud el Hefnawi, Adeyemi O. O. Oluwapelumi, Fakayode O. Enoch, Eddy Kinganda Lusamaki, Gaetan Thilliez, Beatrice Dhaala, Gabriel K. Mbunsu, Lavanya Singh, Nnennaya A. Ajayi, Justin O'Grady, Olawoye Idowu, Ngoy Nsenga, Baba Marycelin, Ndongo Dia, Abdul Karim Sesay, Ikponmwosa Odia, Chika K. Onwuamah, Pardis C. Sabeti, Collins M. Morang’a, Hajar Lemriss, Dominic S. Y. Amuzu, Jones Gyamfi, Sofonias K. Tessema, Iyaloo Konstantinus, Pontiano Kaleebu, Patrick Semanda, Fawzi Derrar, Alpha Kabinet Keita, Joweria Nakaseegu, Ibtihel Smeti, Jocelyn Kiconco, Audu Rosemary, K Said, Bronwyn Kleinhans, Fatma Abdelmoula, Sureshnee Pillay, Abechi Priscilla, Manel Turki, Fred A. Dratibi, Berthe-Marie Njanpop-Lafourcade, Zaydah R. de Laurent, David Baker, Nadine Rujeni, Oguzie Judith, Peter K. Quashie, Phillip Armand Bester, Emmanuel Lokilo, Catherine Pratt, Nabil Abid, Mamadou Diop, Placide Mbala, Eduan Wilkinson, Johnathan A. Edwards, Ahmed Rebai, Haruka Abe, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Thanh Le-Viet, Essia Belarbi, Steven Rudder, Jouali Farah, Maha Mastouri, Nei-yuan Hsiao, Happi Anise, Cara E. Brook, Lamia Fki-Berrajah, Gordon A. Awandare, Ugwu Chinedu, Abdel-Rahman N. Zekri, Sami Kammoun, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Martin M. Nyaga, Lynn Tyers, Jingjing Li, Ikhlas Ben Ayed, Mouna Ouadghiri, Amadou Koné, Reuben Ayivor-Djanie, Innocent Mudau, Thabo Mohale, Olumade Testimony, Eromon Philomena, Yeshnee Naidoo, Patrice Combe, Seydou Doumbia, Anne von Gottberg, Akpede George, Nosamiefan Iguosadolo, Mohamed G. Seadawy, Bronwyn McInnis, Faida Ajili, Grit Schubert, Tarik Aanniz, Maureen W. Mburu, Soumeya Ouangraoua, John N. Nkengasong, Jennifer Giandhari, University of KwaZulu-Natal [Durban, Afrique du Sud] (UKZN), Stellenbosch University, Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Flavivírus [Rio de Janeiro], Instituto Oswaldo Cruz / Oswaldo Cruz Institute [Rio de Janeiro] (IOC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz / Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Fundação Oswaldo Cruz / Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil] (UFMG), University of Cincinnati (UC), University of Cape Town, North Carolina State University [Raleigh] (NC State), University of North Carolina System (UNC), Recherches Translationnelles sur le VIH et les maladies infectieuses endémiques et émergentes (TransVIHMI), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de Yaoundé I-Université Cheikh Anta Diop [Dakar, Sénégal] (UCAD)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université de Montpellier (UM), Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), University of Chicago, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Génomique évolutive des virus à ARN - Evolutionary genomics of RNA viruses, Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), Centre Hospitalier de Mayotte, Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Génétique Moléculaire des Virus à ARN - Molecular Genetics of RNA Viruses (GMV-ARN (UMR_3569 / U-Pasteur_2)), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Centre National de Référence des virus des infections respiratoires (dont la grippe) - National Reference Center Virus Influenzae [Paris] (CNR - laboratoire coordonnateur), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Université de Sfax - University of Sfax, National Institute for Communicable Diseases [Johannesburg] (NICD), University of the Witwatersrand [Johannesburg] (WITS), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Souro Sanou [Bobo-Dioulasso] (CHUSS), Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research [Durban, South Africa] (CAPRISA), University of Washington [Seattle], The University of Ghana (WACCBIP) team was funded by a Wellcome/African Academy of Sciences Developing Excellence in Leadership Training and Science (DELTAS) grant (DEL-15-007 and 107755/Z/15/Z: Awandare), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) (17.63.91) grants using UK aid from the UK government for a global health research group for genomic surveillance of malaria in West Africa (Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK) and the global research unit for Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA partnership, University of Edinburgh), and a World Bank African Centres of Excellent grant (WACCBIP-NCDs: Awandare). Project ADAGE PRFCOV19-GP2 (2020-2022) includes 40 researchers from the Center of Biotechnology of Sfax, the University of Sfax, the University of Monastir, the University Hospital Hédi Chaker of Sfax, the Military Hospital of Tunis, and Dacima Consulting. Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tunisia. The Uganda contributions were funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC/UKRI) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID concordat agreement (grant agreement number NC_PC_19060) and by the Wellcome, DFID–Wellcome Epidemic Preparedness–Coronavirus (grant agreement number 220977/Z/20/Z) awarded to M.C. Work from Quadram Institute Bioscience was funded by The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Institute Strategic Programme Microbes in the Food Chain BB/R012504/1 and its constituent projects BBS/E/F/000PR10348, BBS/E/F/000PR10349, BBS/E/F/000PR10351, and BBS/E/F/000PR10352 and by the Quadram Institute Bioscience BBSRC–funded Core Capability Grant (project number BB/CCG1860/1). The Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI) at the Africa CDC is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV018978 and INV018278), Illumina Inc, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Sequences generated in Zambia through PATH were funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Funding for sequencing in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and part of the sequencing in the DRC was granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Sequencing efforts from Morocco have been supported by Academie Hassan II of Science and Technology, Morocco. Funding for surveillance, sampling, and testing in Madagasar was provided by the WHO, the CDC (grant U5/IP000812-05), the US Agency for International Development (USAID, cooperation agreement 72068719CA00001), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS, grant number IDSEP190051-01-0200). Funding for sequencing was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (GCE/ID OPP1211841), Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley. The Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute was supported by the following funding: H3ABioNet through funding from the National Institutes of Health Common Fund (U41HG006941)—H3ABioNet is an initiative of the Human Health and Heredity in Africa Consortium (H3Africa) program of the African Academy of Science (AAS), DHHS–NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (5K24AI131928-04 and 5K24AI131924-04), Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE), a DELTAS Africa Initiative (grant DEL-15-0060—the DELTAS Africa Initiative is an independent funding scheme of the AAS’s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust [grant 107752/Z/15/Z] and the UK government, and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Department of Technology and Innovation as part of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) and the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Strategic Equipment Fund. D.P.M. is funded by the Wellcome Trust (Wellcome Trust grant 222574/Z/21/Z). Sequencing activities at the NICD were supported by a conditional grant from the South African National Department of Health as part of the emergency COVID-19 response, a cooperative agreement between the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number 5 U01IP001048-05-00), the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a sub-award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant number INV-018978, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Wellcome (Grant no 221003/Z/20/Z), the South African Medical Research Council (Reference number SHIPNCD 76756), the UK Department of Health and Social Care, managed by the Fleming Fund and performed under the auspices of the SEQAFRICA project. Furthermore, pandemic surveillance in South Africa and Senegal was supported in part through NIH grant U01 AI151698 for the United World Antiviral Research Network (UWARN). Support for pandemic surveillance from the Tulio de Oliveira group to other African countries is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Sequencing efforts in the DRC were funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under grant INV-018030 awarded to C.B.P. and further supported by funding from the Africa CDC through the ASLM (African Society of Laboratory Medicine) for Accelerating SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance in Africa. Sequencing efforts in Rwanda were commissioned by the NIHR Global Health Research program (16/136/33) using UK aid from the UK government (funding to E.M. and N.R. through TIBA partnership) and additional funds from the government of Rwanda through RBC/National Reference Laboratory in collaboration with the Belgian Development Agency (ENABEL) for additional genomic sequencing at GIGA Research Institute–Liege/Belgium. The sequencing effort in Equatorial Guinea was supported by a public-private partnership, the Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Project, composed of the government of Equatorial Guinea Ministries of Mines and Hydrocarbons, and Health and Social Welfare, Marathon EG Production Limited, Noble Energy, Atlantic Methanol Production Company, and EG LNG. Sample collection and typing in Mali were supported by Fondation Merieux–France, and sequence efforts have been supported by the Enable and Enhance Initiative of the German Federal Government’s Security Cooperation against Biological Threats in the G5 Sahel Region. The Nigeria work was made possible by support from Flu Lab and a cohort of generous donors through TED’s Audacious Project, including the ELMA Foundation, MacKenzie Scott, the Skoll Foundation, and Open Philanthropy. Further Nigeria funding came from grants from the NIAID (www.niaid.nih.gov), NIH-H3Africa (https://h3africa.org) (U01HG007480 and U54HG007480), and the World Bank grant (worldbank.org) (ACE IMPACT project) to C.H. Analysis for the Gabon strains was supported by the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) (grant number JP20jm0110013) and a grant from AMED (grant number JP20wm0225003). Sequencing at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme site in Kenya was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (project references 17/63/82 and 16/136/33), using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Wellcome Trust (grant# 102975, 220985)., and We acknowledge the authors from the originating laboratories and the submitting laboratories, who generated and shared, via GISAID, the genetic sequence data on which this research is based (table S4). We also acknowledge the contribution of K. Maria from the NGS-SA platform for their contribution toward the sequencing effort in Cape Town, South Africa. Similarly, we thank A. M. Elsaame, S. M. Elsayed, and R. M. Darwish from the Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams Research Institute (MASRI) for their efforts toward sequencing in Egypt. We thank S. Bane, M. Sanogo, D. Diallo, A. Combo Georges Togo, and A. Coulibaly from the University Clinical Research Centre (UCRC) at the University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technologies of Bamako for the contribution they have made toward sequencing efforts in Mali. We acknowledge the contribution of M. Moeti and A. Salam Gueye from the WHO for their contribution toward combating SARS-CoV-2 on the African continent. We further wish to extend acknowledgment to S. Lutucuta and J. Morais from the Angolan Ministry of Health for their continued hard work with regards to SARS-CoV-2 sampling, sequencing, and pandemic response in Angola. From Malawi we wish to acknowledge the work of B. Chilima, B. Mvula, and M. Chitenje from the Malawian Ministry of Health for their work on the COVID-19 response within the country.
Subjects: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, [SDV.MHEP.ME]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Emerging diseases, Multidisciplinary, Early introduction, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Transmission (medicine), SARS-CoV-2, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19, Genetic Variation, [SDV.BBM.BM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Molecular biology, Genomics, Left behind, Geography, [SDV.MHEP.MI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases, Development economics, Pandemic, Africa, Epidemiological Monitoring, [SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology, Humans, [SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie, QH426, RA, Pandemics
Abstract: The progression of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous and the full impact is not yet well understood. Here, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations, predominantly from Europe, which diminished following the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1 and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind-spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a breeding ground for new variants.
Published: 2021
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22. Large-scale sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from one region allows detailed epidemiology and enables local outbreak management

Author: Colin S Brown, Maria Diaz, Luke Bedford, Ana P. Tedim, Steven Rudder, Meera Chand, Muhammad Yasir, Luke Griffith, Will Potter, Rachel Gilroy, Nicholas M. Thomson, Rachael Stanley, Emma Meader, Robert A Kingsley, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, S. J. Louise Smith, Thanh Le-Viet, John Wain, Ian G. Charles, Alexander J. Trotter, Alp Aydin, Ngozi Elumogo, Justin O'Grady, Gemma L. Kay, Reenesh Prakash, Dheeraj K. Sethi, Rose K Davidson, Claire Stuart, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Alison E Mather, Dinesh Aggarwal, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Andrew J. Page, Lizzie Meadows, Anastasia Kolyva, David Baker, Mark A. Webber, Lindsay Coupland, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Andrew Bell, Tracey E. Swingler, Samir Dervisevic, Aggarwal, Dinesh [0000-0002-5938-8172], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Subjects: 0301 basic medicine, Genetic Linkage, 030106 microbiology, Population, Genomics, Context (language use), Genome, Viral, genomic epidemiology, Biology, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, DNA sequencing, Disease Outbreaks, 03 medical and health sciences, Pandemic, Cluster Analysis, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, ARTIC, education, genome, Pandemics, Phylogeny, Whole genome sequencing, education.field_of_study, Whole Genome Sequencing, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Outbreak, sequencing, General Medicine, United Kingdom, 030104 developmental biology, Evolutionary biology, NGS, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus, Large-Scale Sequencing
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread rapidly throughout the world. In the UK, the initial peak was in April 2020; in the county of Norfolk (UK) and surrounding areas, which has a stable, low-density population, over 3200 cases were reported between March and August 2020. As part of the activities of the national COVID-19 Genomics Consortium (COG-UK) we undertook whole genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes present in positive clinical samples from the Norfolk region. These samples were collected by four major hospitals, multiple minor hospitals, care facilities and community organizations within Norfolk and surrounding areas. We combined clinical metadata with the sequencing data from regional SARS-CoV-2 genomes to understand the origins, genetic variation, transmission and expansion (spread) of the virus within the region and provide context nationally. Data were fed back into the national effort for pandemic management, whilst simultaneously being used to assist local outbreak analyses. Overall, 1565 positive samples (172 per 100 000 population) from 1376 cases were evaluated; for 140 cases between two and six samples were available providing longitudinal data. This represented 42.6 % of all positive samples identified by hospital testing in the region and encompassed those with clinical need, and health and care workers and their families. In total, 1035 cases had genome sequences of sufficient quality to provide phylogenetic lineages. These genomes belonged to 26 distinct global lineages, indicating that there were multiple separate introductions into the region. Furthermore, 100 genetically distinct UK lineages were detected demonstrating local evolution, at a rate of ~2 SNPs per month, and multiple co-occurring lineages as the pandemic progressed. Our analysis: identified a discrete sublineage associated with six care facilities; found no evidence of reinfection in longitudinal samples; ruled out a nosocomial outbreak; identified 16 lineages in key workers which were not in patients, indicating infection control measures were effective; and found the D614G spike protein mutation which is linked to increased transmissibility dominates the samples and rapidly confirmed relatedness of cases in an outbreak at a food processing facility. The large-scale genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2-positive samples has provided valuable additional data for public health epidemiology in the Norfolk region, and will continue to help identify and untangle hidden transmission chains as the pandemic evolves.
Published: 2021
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23. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern dominate in Lahore, Pakistan in April 2021

Author: Javed Akram, Andrew J. Page, Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko, Steven Rudder, Almina Shafiq, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Bilquis Shabbir, Shah Jahan, Alexander J. Trotter, Sidra Tul Muntaha, David Baker, Gemma L. Kay, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Muhammad Bilal Sarwar, Muhammad Roman, Nadeem Afzal, Mark A. Webber, Muhammad Yasir, Sophie J. Prosolek, and Thanh Le Viet
Subjects: education.field_of_study, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Population, Genome, DNA sequencing, law.invention, Geography, Transmission (mechanics), law, Pandemic, Low density, education, Third wave, Demography
Abstract: BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to expand globally, with case numbers rising in many areas of the world, including the Indian sub-continent. Pakistan has one of the world ‘s largest population, of over 200 million people and is experiencing a severe third wave of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 that begun in March 2021.In Pakistan, during third wave until now only 12 SARS-CoV-2 genomes have been collected and among these 9 are from Islamabad. This highlights the need for more genome sequencing to allow surveillance of variants in circulation. In fact more genomes are available among travellers with a travel history from Pakistan, than from within the country itself.MethodsFor a better understanding of the circulating variants in Lahore and surrounding areas with a combined population of 11.1 million, within a week of April 2021, 102 samples were sequenced. The samples were randomly collected from 2 hospitals with a diagnostic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cutoff value of less than 25 cycles.ResultsAnalysis of the lineages shows that B.1.1.7 (first identified in the UK, Alpha variant) dominates, accounting for 97.9% (97/99) of cases, with B.1.351 (first identified in South Africa, Beta variant) accounting for 2.0% (2/99) of cases. No other lineages were observed.DiscussionIn depth analysis of the B.1.1.7 lineages indicates multiple separate introductions and subsequent establishment within the region. Eight samples were identical to genomes observed in Europe (7 UK, 1 Switzerland), indicating recent transmission. Genomes of other samples show evidence that these have evolved, indicating sustained transmission over a period of time either within Pakistan or other countries with low density genome sequencing. Vaccines remain effective against B.1.1.7, however the low level of B.1.351 against which some vaccines are less effective demonstrates the requirement for continued prospective genomic surveillance.
Published: 2021
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24. Evaluating the effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutation D614G on transmissibility and pathogenicity

Author: Erik Volz, Verity Hill, John T. McCrone, Anna Price, David Jorgensen, Áine O’Toole, Joel Southgate, Robert Johnson, Ben Jackson, Fabricia F. Nascimento, Sara M. Rey, Samuel M. Nicholls, Rachel M. Colquhoun, Ana da Silva Filipe, James Shepherd, David J. Pascall, Rajiv Shah, Natasha Jesudason, Kathy Li, Ruth Jarrett, Nicole Pacchiarini, Matthew Bull, Lily Geidelberg, Igor Siveroni, Ian Goodfellow, Nicholas J. Loman, Oliver G. Pybus, David L. Robertson, Emma C. Thomson, Andrew Rambaut, Thomas R. Connor, Cherian Koshy, Emma Wise, Nick Cortes, Jessica Lynch, Stephen Kidd, Matilde Mori, Derek J. Fairley, Tanya Curran, James P. McKenna, Helen Adams, Christophe Fraser, Tanya Golubchik, David Bonsall, Catrin Moore, Sarah L. Caddy, Fahad A. Khokhar, Michelle Wantoch, Nicola Reynolds, Ben Warne, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Michaela John, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Sian Morgan, Angela Marchbank, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Trudy Workman, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Luke B. Snell, Themoula Charalampous, Gaia Nebbia, Rahul Batra, Jonathan Edgeworth, Samuel C. Robson, Angela Beckett, Katie F. Loveson, David M. Aanensen, Anthony P. Underwood, Corin A. Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben E.W. Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, Gemma Clark, Wendy Smith, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M. Fleming, Michelle M. Lister, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Christopher Holmes, Julian Tang, Veena Raviprakash, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Matthew W. Loose, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Victoria Wright, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Francesc Coll, Adrian W. Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D. Wilson, Theresa Feltwell, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Thomas Davis, Oliver Pybus, Louis du Plessis, Alex Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz Kraemer, Sarah Francois, Stephen Attwood, Tetyana Vasylyeva, M. Estee Torok, William L. Hamilton, Ian G. Goodfellow, Grant Hall, Aminu S. Jahun, Yasmin Chaudhry, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Anna Yakovleva, Luke W. Meredith, Samuel Moses, Hannah Lowe, Felicity Ryan, Chloe L. Fisher, Ali R. Awan, John Boyes, Judith Breuer, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack C.D. Lee, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Nathan Moore, Nicholas Cortes, Rebecca Williams, Michael R. Chapman, Lisa J. Levett, Judith Heaney, Darren L. Smith, Matthew Bashton, Gregory R. Young, John Allan, Joshua Loh, Paul A. Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Alison Holmes, Frances Bolt, James Price, Siddharth Mookerjee, Aileen Rowan, Graham P. Taylor, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Rob Johnson, Olivia Boyd, Erik M. Volz, Kirstyn Brunker, Katherine L. Smollett, Joshua Quick, Claire McMurray, Joanne Stockton, Sam Nicholls, Will Rowe, Radoslaw Poplawski, Rocio T. Martinez-Nunez, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I. Robinson, Elaine O'Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Catherine Ludden, Graciela Sluga, Nicholas W. Machin, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Fenella Halstead, Venkat Sivaprakasam, James G. Shepherd, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O. Niebel, Kathy K. Li, Rajiv N. Shah, Natasha G. Jesudason, Yasmin A. Parr, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N. Carmichael, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Igor Starinskij, Richard J. Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Joshua B. Singer, Antony D. Hale, Louissa R. Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L. Harper, Yusri Taha, Brendan A.I. Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Kate E. Templeton, Martin P. McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Elizabeth Wastenge, Samir Dervisevic, Rachael Stanley, Reenesh Prakash, Claire Stuart, Ngozi Elumogo, Dheeraj K. Sethi, Emma J. Meader, Lindsay J. Coupland, Will Potter, Clive Graham, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Emma Swindells, Jane Greenaway, Andrew Nelson, Wen C. Yew, Paola C. Resende Silva, Monique Andersson, Robert Shaw, Timothy Peto, Anita Justice, David Eyre, Derrick Crooke, Sarah Hoosdally, Tim J. Sloan, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Anoop J. Chauhan, Sharon Glaysher, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Ethan Butcher, Scott Elliott, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Declan T. Bradley, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Peter Muir, Ian B. Vipond, Richard Hopes, Hannah M. Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Meera Chand, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Ian Harrison, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Husam Osman, Andrew Bosworth, Esther Robinson, Matthew T.G. Holden, Sharif Shaaban, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Alisha Davies, Amy Gaskin, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Catherine Moore, Chris Williams, David Heyburn, Elen De Lacy, Ember Hilvers, Fatima Downing, Giri Shankar, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Joanne Watkins, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Malorie Perry, Mari Morgan, Michelle Cronin, Noel Craine, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sally Corden, Sara Rey, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Sarah Taylor, Simon Cottrell, Sophie Jones, Sue Edwards, Justin O’Grady, Andrew J. Page, John Wain, Mark A. Webber, Alison E. Mather, David J. Baker, Steven Rudder, Muhammad Yasir, Nicholas M. Thomson, Alp Aydin, Ana P. Tedim, Gemma L. Kay, Alexander J. Trotter, Rachel A.J. Gilroy, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le-Viet, Lizzie Meadows, Anastasia Kolyva, Maria Diaz, Andrew Bell, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Ian G. Charles, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Robert A. Kingsley, Anna Casey, David A. Simpson, Zoltan Molnar, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Jane A.H. Masoli, Bridget A. Knight, Andrew Hattersley, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Yann Bourgeois, Garry P. Scarlett, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Steven Liggett, Paul Baker, Sarah Essex, Ronan A. Lyons, Laura G. Caller, Sergi Castellano, Rachel J. Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Sunando Roy, Charlotte A. Williams, Patricia L. Dyal, Helena J. Tutill, Yasmin N. Panchbhaya, Leysa M. Forrest, Paola Niola, Jacqueline Findlay, Tony T. Brooks, Artemis Gavriil, Lamia Mestek-Boukhibar, Sam Weeks, Sarojini Pandey, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Colin P. Smith, Giselda Bucca, Andrew R. Hesketh, Ewan M. Harrison, Sharon J. Peacock, Sophie Palmer, Carol M. Churcher, Katherine L. Bellis, Sophia T. Girgis, Plamena Naydenova, Beth Blane, Sushmita Sridhar, Chris Ruis, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Leanne M. Kermack, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Dinesh Aggarwal, Luke Griffith, Tracey Swingler, Rose K. Davidson, Thomas Williams, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Áine O'Toole, Stefan Rooke, Rachel Colquhoun, Jordan Ashworth, J.T. McCrone, Emily Scher, Xiaoyu Yu, Kathleen A. Williamson, Thomas D. Stanton, Stephen L. Michell, Claire M. Bewshea, Ben Temperton, Michelle L. Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W. Harrison, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Aaron R. Jeffries, Alistair C. Darby, Julian A. Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Kathryn A. Jackson, Anita O. Lucaci, Edith E. Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Lance Turtle, Sam T. Haldenby, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Thushan I. de Silva, Nikki Smith, Adrienn Angyal, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Danielle C. Groves, Luke R. Green, Dennis Wang, Timothy M. Freeman, Matthew D. Parker, Alexander J. Keeley, Paul J. Parsons, Rachel M. Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Wyles, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Sascha Ott, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Richard Stark, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Paul E. Brown, Patrick C. McClure, Joseph G. Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, David Buck, John A. Todd, Angie Green, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Cordelia Langford, Alex Alderton, Roberto Amato, Sonia Goncalves, David K. Jackson, Ian Johnston, John Sillitoe, Steve Palmer, Mara Lawniczak, Matt Berriman, John Danesh, Rich Livett, Lesley Shirley, Ben Farr, Mike Quail, Scott Thurston, Naomi Park, Emma Betteridge, Danni Weldon, Scott Goodwin, Rachel Nelson, Charlotte Beaver, Laura Letchford, David A. Jackson, Luke Foulser, Liz McMinn, Liam Prestwood, Sally Kay, Leanne Kane, Matthew J. Dorman, Inigo Martincorena, Christoph Puethe, Jon-Paul Keatley, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Christen Smith, Dorota Jamrozy, Mathew A. Beale, Minal Patel, Cristina Ariani, Michael Spencer-Chapman, Eleanor Drury, Stephanie Lo, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Carol Scott, Keith James, Sarah K. Buddenborg, Duncan J. Berger, Gaurang Patel, Maria V. Garcia-Casado, Thomas Dibling, Samantha McGuigan, Hazel A. Rogers, Adam D. Hunter, Emily Souster, Alexandra S. Neaverson, Medical Research Council (MRC), Pascall, David [0000-0002-7543-0860], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Subjects: Genome, Genetic analysis, 0302 clinical medicine, Clade, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, Genetics, 0303 health sciences, education.field_of_study, Phylogenetic tree, Virulence, C500, COG-UK Consortium, C700, Transmissibility (vibration), 3. Good health, founder effect, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus, epidemiology, Viral load, Population, Glycine, B100, Genomics, Genome, Viral, Biology, Article, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 03 medical and health sciences, evolution, Humans, education, 030304 developmental biology, Aspartic Acid, Whole Genome Sequencing, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, spike, The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium, A300, 06 Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, Amino Acid Substitution, Evolutionary biology, Mutation, Biological dispersal, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, Founder effect, Developmental Biology
Abstract: Global dispersal and increasing frequency of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant D614G are suggestive of a selective advantage but may also be due to a random founder effect. We investigate the hypothesis for positive selection of spike D614G in the United Kingdom using more than 25,000 whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Despite the availability of a large dataset, well represented by both spike 614 variants, not all approaches showed a conclusive signal of positive selection. Population genetic analysis indicates that 614G increases in frequency relative to 614D in a manner consistent with a selective advantage. We do not find any indication that patients infected with the spike 614G variant have higher COVID-19 mortality or clinical severity, but 614G is associated with higher viral load and younger age of patients. Significant differences in growth and size of 614G phylogenetic clusters indicate a need for continued study of this variant., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Increasing frequency of SARS-CoV-2 D614G is consistent with a selective advantage • Phylodynamic analyses do not show significantly different growth of D614G clusters • There is no association of D614G replacement with greater severity of infection • The D614G replacement is associated with higher viral loads and younger patient age, Analysis of the spread and frequency of SARS-CoV-2 D614G in the United Kingdom suggests a selective advantage for this strain that is associated with higher viral loads in younger patients but not higher COVID-19 clinical severity or mortality.
Published: 2021
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25. Heterochronic Fecal Microbiota Transfer Reverses Hallmarks of the Aging Murine Gut, Eye and Brain

Author: Rebecca Ansorge, Steven Rudder, Gwénaëlle Le Gall, L. Ashley Blackshaw, David Baker, Glen Jeffery, Emily Jones, Simon R. Carding, Stefano Romano, Andrea Telatin, Aimee Parker, Asmaa Aboelnoer, and George M. Savva
Subjects: Retina, Central nervous system, Gut–brain axis, Inflammation, Biology, Fecal microbiota, digestive system, Transplantation, medicine.anatomical_structure, Immunology, medicine, Barrier permeability, medicine.symptom, Heterochrony
Abstract: Altered intestinal microbiota composition in later life is associated with inflammaging and increased susceptibility to age–associated chronic diseases affecting various organs. Here we tested the hypothesis that manipulating the intestinal microbiota influences the development of comorbidities associated with aging, in particular, inflammation affecting intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, the retina, and the brain. Using heterochronic microbiota transplantation to exchange the intestinal microbiota of young (3 month), old (18 month), and aged (24 month) mice, we show that age–associated increases in intestinal barrier permeability, central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, and loss a of key functional retinal protein, are reversed by transfer of young donor microbiota to aged mice, but are accelerated upon transfer of aged donor microbiota into young mice. These findings demonstrate that the aged microbiota composition mediates detrimental changes in the gut–CNS axis, and suggest that microbial modulation may be of therapeutic benefit in later life.
Published: 2021
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26. Large scale sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from one region allows detailed epidemiology and enables local outbreak management

Author: Will Potter, Luke Bedford, Maria Diaz, Robert A. Kingsley, Lizzie Meadows, Meera Chand, Claire Stuart, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Ian G. Charles, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Alexander J. Trotter, Rachael Stanley, Dheeraj K. Sethi, Nicholas M. Thomson, John Wain, Luke Griffith, Anastasia Kolyva, Dave Baker, Reenesh Prakash, Ana P. Tedim, Thanh Le-Viet, Samir Dervisevic, Alison E. Mather, Gemma L. Kay, Dinesh Aggarwal, Steven Rudder, Rose K Davidson, Rachel Gilroy, Mark A. Webber, Tracey E. Swingler, Andrew J. Page, S. J. Louise Smith, Ngozi Elumogo, Emma Meader, Alp Aydin, Lindsay Coupland, Andrew Bell, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Colin S Brown, and Justin O'Grady
Subjects: Whole genome sequencing, education.field_of_study, Evolutionary biology, Pandemic, Population, Outbreak, Genomics, Biology, education, Genome, Large-Scale Sequencing, DNA sequencing
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread rapidly throughout the world. In the UK, the initial peak was in April 2020; in the county of Norfolk (UK) and surrounding areas, which has a stable, low-density population, over 3,200 cases were reported between March and August 2020. As part of the activities of the national COVID-19 Genomics Consortium (COG-UK) we undertook whole genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes present in positive clinical samples from the Norfolk region. These samples were collected by four major hospitals, multiple minor hospitals, care facilities and community organisations within Norfolk and surrounding areas. We combined clinical metadata with the sequencing data from regional SARS-CoV-2 genomes to understand the origins, genetic variation, transmission and expansion (spread) of the virus within the region and provide context nationally. Data were fed back into the national effort for pandemic management, whilst simultaneously being used to assist local outbreak analyses. Overall, 1,565 positive samples (172 per 100,000 population) from 1,376 cases were evaluated; for 140 cases between two and six samples were available providing longitudinal data. This represented 42.6% of all positive samples identified by hospital testing in the region and encompassed those with clinical need, and health and care workers and their families. 1,035 cases had genome sequences of sufficient quality to provide phylogenetic lineages. These genomes belonged to 26 distinct global lineages, indicating that there were multiple separate introductions into the region.Furthermore, 100 genetically-distinct UK lineages were detected demonstrating local evolution, at a rate of ∼2 SNPs per month, and multiple co-occurring lineages as the pandemic progressed. Our analysis: identified a sublineage associated with 6 care facilities; found no evidence of reinfection in longitudinal samples; ruled out a nosocomial outbreak; identified 16 lineages in key workers which were not in patients indicating infection control measures were effective; found the D614G spike protein mutation which is linked to increased transmissibility dominates the samples and rapidly confirmed relatedness of cases in an outbreak at a food processing facility. The large-scale genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2-positive samples has provided valuable additional data for public health epidemiology in the Norfolk region, and will continue to help identify and untangle hidden transmission chains as the pandemic evolves.Major pointsIn Norfolk and surrounding regions100 distinct UK lineages were identified.16 UK lineages found in key workers were not observed in patients or in community care.172 genomes from SARS-CoV-2 positive samples sequenced per 100,000 population representing 42.6% of all positive cases.SARS-CoV-2 genomes from 1035 cases sequenced to a high quality.Only 5 countries, out of 103, have sequenced more SARS-CoV-2 genomes than have been sequenced in Norfolk for this paper.Samples covered the entire first wave, March to August 2020.Stable evolutionary rate of 2 SNPs per month.D614G mutation is the dominant genotype and associated with increased transmission.No evidence of reinfection in 42 cases with longitudinal samples.WGS identified a sublineage associated with care facilities.WGS ruled out nosocomial outbreaks.Rapid WGS confirmed the relatedness of cases from an outbreak at a food processing facility.
Published: 2020
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27. Genome sequence of Ensifer adhaerens OV14 provides insights into its ability as a novel vector for the genetic transformation of plant genomes

Author: Ewen Mullins, Christopher J. Creevey, Fiona M. Doohan, Toni Wendt, Steven Rudder, Science Foundation Ireland, and 11/RFP.1/GEN/3420.
Subjects: Genome evolution, Gene Transfer, Horizontal, Agrobacterium, Biology, Genome sequencing, Genome, Transformation, Ti plasmid, Transformation, Genetic, Rhizobiaceae, Genetics, Plant Tumor-Inducing Plasmids, Bacterial Secretion Systems, Phylogeny, Whole genome sequencing, Virulence, Genome project, biology.organism_classification, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Genes, Bacterial, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Ensifer adhaerens, Minimal genome, Genome, Bacterial, Genome, Plant, Biotechnology, Research Article
Abstract: peer-reviewed Additional file 1:Figure S1. Circular representation of the four replicons of E. adhaerens OV14. Figure S2. Synteny plots showing total sequence of Ensifer adhaerens OV14 pOV14 (top bar) vs Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 pTi (bottom bar), computed using DoubleACT version2 on tBLASTx setting with cut off set at 100. Visualised in Artemis ACT. Additional file 2; BLAST of Ensifer adhaerens OV14 replicons.xlsx. Excel file includes tables of BLAST search of individual Ensifer adhaerens OV14 replicons Additional file 3. BLAST of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 replicons.xlsx. Excel file includes tables of BLAST searches of individual Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 Background: Recently it has been shown that Ensifer adhaerens can be used as a plant transformation technology, transferring genes into several plant genomes when equipped with a Ti plasmid. For this study, we have sequenced the genome of Ensifer adhaerens OV14 (OV14) and compared it with those of Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 (C58) and Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 (1021); the latter of which has also demonstrated a capacity to genetically transform crop genomes, albeit at significantly reduced frequencies. Results: The 7.7 Mb OV14 genome comprises two chromosomes and two plasmids. All protein coding regions in the OV14 genome were functionally grouped based on an eggNOG database. No genes homologous to the A. tumefaciens Ti plasmid vir genes appeared to be present in the OV14 genome. Unexpectedly, OV14 and 1021 were found to possess homologs to chromosomal based genes cited as essential to A. tumefaciens T-DNA transfer. Of significance, genes that are non-essential but exert a positive influence on virulence and the ability to genetically transform host genomes were identified in OV14 but were absent from the 1021 genome. Conclusions: This study reveals the presence of homologs to chromosomally based Agrobacterium genes that support T-DNA transfer within the genome of OV14 and other alphaproteobacteria. The sequencing and analysis of the OV14 genome increases our understanding of T-DNA transfer by non-Agrobacterium species and creates a platform for the continued improvement of Ensifer-mediated transformation (EMT). This publication has emanated from research conducted with the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland under grant number SFI 11/RFP.1/ GEN/3420.
Published: 2014

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27 results on '"Steven Rudder"'

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