13 NL63-CAN Sequences at GenBank
Recombinomics Commentary
January 22, 2005
The coronavirus NL63-CAN (Canada) sequences are now available at GenBank. These sequences are 425 bp that correspond to positions 5856-6280 of the replicase polyprotein 1A gene of NL-63, the same region represnted by the 8 sequences from Australia and contained within the 466 bp sequences from The Netherlands. These sequneces have polymorphisms at 8 positions and there is considerable overlap between sequences from all three locations.
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.