Isolation, Sequence, Infectivity, and Replication Kinetics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Isolation, Sequence, Infectivity, and Replication Kinetics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Arinjay Banerjee, Jalees A. Nasir, Patrick Budylowski, Lily Yip, Patryk Aftanas, Natasha Christie, Ayoob Ghalami, Kaushal Baid, Amogelang R. Raphenya, Jeremy A. Hirota, Matthew S. Miller, Allison J. McGeer, Mario Ostrowski, Robert A. Kozak, Andrew G. McArthur, Karen Mossman, Samira Mubareka

Since its emergence in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected ≈6 million persons worldwide. As SARS-CoV-2 spreads across the planet, we explored the range of human cells that can be infected by this virus. We isolated SARS-CoV-2 from 2 infected patients in Toronto, Canada; determined the genomic sequences; and identified single-nucleotide changes in representative populations of our virus stocks. We also tested a wide range of human immune cells for productive infection with SARS-CoV-2. We confirm that human primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells are not permissive for SARS-CoV-2. As SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread globally, it is essential to monitor single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the virus and to continue to isolate circulating viruses to determine viral genotype and phenotype by using in vitro and in vivo infection models.

2020

Viruses, covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, coronavirus disease, 2019 novel coronavirus disease

10.3201/eid2609.201495

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Medicine, Infectious and parasitic diseases