Research Progress on Coronaviruses in Aquatic Animals
Coronavirus is widely prevalent in nature and may infect a variety of mammals and birds,which poses a serious threat to the safety of animal husbandry and public health. The relationship between coronaviruses in aquatic animals including salmon and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)has been concerned by the public since the nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2 was detected on the cutting board for imported salmon in Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market. In this paper,the clinical symptoms of infected aquatic animals such as belugas,bottlenose dolphins and salmon,as well as the structural features of viral genome were described in detail,the genetic evolution of coronaviruses in aquatic animals and SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed. The results showed that the known coronaviruses in aquatic animals belonged to Gammacoronavirus and Alphaletovirus,while SARS-CoV-2 fell into Betacoronavirus,and the nucleotide homology of their genomes and major genes(1ab,S,E,M and N)was 43.7% to 54.1%,which could exclude any possibility of SARS-CoV-2 originating from the known coronaviruses. The infection status of coronaviruses in aquatic animals was systematically described in this paper,hoping to further improve public awareness and provide theoretical basis for scientific prevention and control of coronavirus.