66 NL63-NH Sequences at GenBank
Recombinomics Commentary
January 22, 2005
The coronavirus NL63-NH (New Haven) sequences are now available at GenBank. As indicated in Figure 3 of the article, Evidence of a Novel Human Coronavirus That Is Associated with Respiratory Tract Disease of Infants and Young Children, the sequences are identical or closely related to NL63. The deposited sequences are 125 bp amplicons corresponding to positions 11918-12042 in the replicase polyprotein 1A gene of NL63.
There are a number of unique polymorphisms not found in prior isolates. The two most common polymorphisms are G11926A and T11956C. There are 66 sequences available at GenBank.
The same rules governing evolution and emergence used by influenza also apply to these novel coronaviruses (CoV's). Both NL63 and HKU1 are novel CoV's that are recombinants beween class 1 and class 2 human cold viruses and other well charcterized coronaviruses, including SARS CoV . Thus, like influenza A in general and bird flu (avian influenza) in particular, the evolution of these viruses is very predictable.