Mutation profile of over 4500 SARS-CoV-2 isolations reveals prevalent cytosine-to-uridine deamination on viral RNAs

Abstract

Aim: The inference of coronavirus evolution is largely based on mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genome. Misinterpretation of these mutations would mislead people about the evolution of SARS-CoV-2. Materials & methods: With 4521 lines of SARS-CoV-2, we obtained 3169 unique point mutation sites. We counted the numbers and calculated the minor allele frequency (MAF) of each mutation type. Results: Nearly half of the point mutations are C–T mismatches and 20% are A–G mismatches. The MAF of C–T and A–G mismatches is significantly higher than MAF of other mutation types. Conclusion: The excessive C–T mismatches do not resemble the random mutation profile. They are likely to be caused by the cytosine-to-uridine deamination system in hosts.