SARS-CoV-2 Molecular and Phylogenetic Analysis in COVID-19 Patients: A
Preliminary Report from Iran
Abstract
Background: The aim of the current study was to investigate and track
the SARS-CoV-2 in Iranian Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients
using molecular and phylogenetic methods. Methods: We enrolled seven
confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients for the phylogenetic assessment of
the SARS-CoV-2 in Iran. The nsp-2, nsp-12, and S genes were amplified
using one-step RT-PCR and sequenced using Sanger sequencing method.
Popular bioinformatics software were used for sequences alignment and
analysis as well as phylogenetic construction. Results: The mean age of
the patients in the present study was 60.42±9.94 years and 57.1% (4/7)
were male. The results indicated high similarity between Iranian and
Chinese strains. We could not find any particular polymorphisms in the
assessed regions of the three genes. Phylogenetic trees by
neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood method of nsp-2, nsp-12, and S
genes showed that there are not any differences between Iranian isolates
and those of other countries. Conclusion: As a preliminary phylogenetic
study in Iranian SARS-CoV-2 isolates, we found that these isolates are
closely related to the Chinese and reference sequences. Also, no
sensible differences were observed between Iranian isolates and those of
other countries. Further investigations are recommended using more
comprehensive methods and larger sample sizes.