Identity and Similarity Percentages of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Can Be Used
as Indicators of the Virus Origin
Abstract
There are three types of proteins in the coronaviruses; nonstructural,
structural and accessory proteins. The coronaviruses proteins are
essential for the viral replication and for the binding, invasion and
regulation of the host cells metabolism and immunity. This article
investigated the amino acid sequence similarity and identity percentages
of 10 proteins present in SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and the Rhinolophus
affinis bat coronavirus (BatCoV RaTG13). The investigated proteins were
1ab polyprotein, spike protein, orf3a, envelope protein, membrane
protein, orf6, orf7a, orf7b, orf8, and ncleocapsid protein. The online
sequence alignment service of The European Molecular Biology Open
Software Suite (EMBOSS) was used to determine the similarity and
identity percentages of the three viruses proteins. The results showed
that the similarity and identity percentages of the SARS-CoV-2 and
BatCoV RaTG13 proteins are above 95% while the identity and similarity
percentages of the SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV are above 38%. The proteins
of the SARS-CoV-2 and the BatCoV RaTG13 are of high identity and
similarity percentages compared to those of the SARS-CoV-2 and the
SARS-CoV.