A Unique SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein P681H Variant Detected in Israel

Neta S Zuckerman; Shay Fleishon; Efrat Bucris; Dana Bar-Ilan; Michal Linial; Itay Bar-Or; Victoria Indenbaum; Merav Weil; Yaniv Lustig; Ella Mendelson; Michal Mandelboim; Orna Mor; Neta Zuckerman; On Behalf Of The Israel National Consortium For Sars-CoV-Sequencing

doi:10.3390/vaccines9060616

A Unique SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein P681H Variant Detected in Israel

Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Jun 8;9(6):616. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9060616.

Authors

Neta S Zuckerman¹, Shay Fleishon¹, Efrat Bucris¹, Dana Bar-Ilan¹, Michal Linial², Itay Bar-Or¹, Victoria Indenbaum¹, Merav Weil¹, Yaniv Lustig¹, Ella Mendelson^{1

3}, Michal Mandelboim^{1

3}, Orna Mor^{1

3}, Neta Zuckerman¹, On Behalf Of The Israel National Consortium For Sars-CoV-Sequencing

Affiliations

¹ Central Virology Laboratory, Israel Ministry of Health, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer 52621, Israel.
² Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.

Abstract

The routine detection, surveillance, and reporting of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants is crucial, as these threaten to hinder global vaccination efforts. Herein we report a novel local variant with a non-synonymous mutation in the spike (S) protein P681H. This local Israeli variant was not associated with a higher infection rate or higher prevalence. Furthermore, the local variant was successfully neutralized by sera from fully vaccinated individuals at a comparable level to the B.1.1.7 variant and an Israel wild-type strain. While it is not a variant of concern, routine monitoring by sequencing is still required.

Keywords: Covid-19; SARS-CoV-2; sequencing; variant of concern; virus neutralization.