Question

COVID-19 belongs to the genera Beta-coronavirus. Compare and contrast the genomic and phenotypic structure between COVID-19 and one other member of the Beta-coronavirus genera, along with their associated pathogenesis?

Answer 1

Coronaviruses are involved in human and vertebrate's diseases.Coronaviruses are members of the subfamily Coronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae and the order Nidovirales. COVID-19 is a spherical or pleomorphic enveloped particles containing single-stranded (positive-sense) RNA associated with a nucleoprotein within a capsid comprised of matrix protein. The envelope bears club-shaped glycoprotein projections. Some coronaviruses also contain a hem agglutinin-esterase protein (HE)⁴ . Coronaviruses possess the largest genomes (26.4–31.7 kb) among all known RNA viruses, with G + C contents varying from 32% to 43%.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1) is a strain of virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).It is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus which infects the epithelial cells within the lungs. The virus enters the host cell by binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. It infects humans, bats, and palm civets. SARS-CoV-2 is the third highly pathogenic coronavirus to emerge and spread in human populations. Phylogenetic analyses showed that, as SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the Sarbecovirus subgenus (genus Betacoronavirus)