Journal
INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION
Volume 9, Issue 6, Pages 1185-1196Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2009.09.015
Keywords
SARS; SARS-like coronaviruses; Inter-species transmission; Evolution
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Funding
- Hong Kong SAR government [06060672]
- Strategic Research Theme of Infection and Immunology, The University of Hong Kong
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a respiratory disease caused by a zoonotic coronavirus (CoV) named SARS-CoV (SCoV), which rapidly swept the globe after its emergence in rural China during late 2002. The origins of SCoV have been mysterious and controversial, until the recent discovery of SARS-like CoV (SLCoV) in bats and the proposal of bats as the natural reservior of the Coronaviridae family. In this article, we focused on discussing how phylogenetics contributed to our understanding towards the emergence and transmission of SCoV. We first reviewed the epidemiology of SCoV from a phylogenetic perspective and discussed the controversies over its phylogenetic origins. Then, we summarized the phylogenetic findings in relation to its zoonotic origins and the proposed inter-species viral transmission events. Finally, we also discussed how the discoveries of SCoV and SLCoV expanded our knowledge on the evolution of the Coronaviridae family as well as its implications on the possible future re-emergence of SCoV. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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