Table 1.
SARS-CoV-2 emerging variants of concern and variants of interest in France, and an example of a variant under investigation (according to CNRS and French Health Public Agency risk analyses updated on 08 April, 2021, and SFM databases updated on 29 April, 2021) [14,28,29].
| Variant | Date/Country of the 1st Detection | Key Mutations | Location | Potential Role/Major Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D614G [10] | End of January 2020/Germany and China | D614G 1 | CTD-S | Fitness/transmission advantage Correlation with lethality |
| Mink [30] | Denmark/ 7 November 2020 |
Y453F 4 | RBM-S | Not associated to severity/death |
| N501T 2 | ||||
| 20I/501Y.V1 (B.1.1.7) [14] (VOC) |
United Kingdom/ End of December 2020 |
69/70 Del 1,3 | NTD-S | up to 75% higher transmissibility Death (up to 82%)/severity increase Impact of S diagnosis kit |
| 144Y Del 4 | NTD-S | |||
| N501Y 2 | RBM-S | |||
| A570D | S1 region-Spike | |||
| D614G 1 | CTD-S | |||
| P681H 7 | Furin cleavage site | |||
| Q27stop 5 | ORF8 | |||
| 20I/484K/Q (B.1.1.7) [14] (VOC) |
United Kingdom/ January 2021 |
E484K 4/Q | RBD-S | Potential immune escape for the 20I/484K/Q variant |
| 20H/501Y.V2 (B.1.351) [14,28] (VOC) |
South Africa/ December 2020 |
K417N 2 | RBD-S | Highly transmissible (50%) Death (20%)/severity increase Post vaccine and infection immune escape |
| E484K 4 | RBD-S | |||
| N501Y 2/D614G 1 | Spike | |||
| L18F 4 | NTD-S | |||
| 20J/501Y.V3 (P.1) [14,28] (VOC) |
Brazil/January 2021 | E484K 4, N501Y 2, D614G 1 | Spike | Transmissibility increase (up to 120%) Post vaccine and infection immune escape |
| K417N/T 2 | RBD-S | |||
| H655Y 2,4,6 | Near the furin cleavage site | |||
| 20A/484K (B.1.525) [14,28] (VOI) |
United States and Nigeria/ December 2020 |
69/70 Del 1,3, 144-145del 4, E484K 4, Q52R, A677H, F888L |
Spike | Sporadic detection in France No evidence of health impact |
| CAL.20C [14,28] (VOI) |
Southern California/May 2020 | L452R 4,6 | RBD-S | Slight increase in transmissibility (20%) |
| 20C/477N and 20C/484K (B.1.526) [14] (VOI) |
New York/February 2021 | D253G 4 | NTD-S | Some mutations may be involved in immune escape |
| D614G 1, E484K 4 | CTD-S | |||
| 19B/501Y(A27) [14] (VOI) |
Henri Mondor Hospital-France/January 2021 | L18F 4, L452R 4,6, N501Y 2, H655Y 2,4,6 | Spike | Detection in the context of clusters Being evaluated Some mutations may be involved in immune escape |
| 20C/655Y (B.1.616) [14] (VOI) |
Brittany-France/January 2021 | H66D | NTD-S | Detection in the context of clusters Being evaluated Some mutations may be involved in immune escape |
| 144-145del 4, H655Y 2,4,6 | Spike | |||
| D215G 4 | NTD | |||
| V483A 4 | RBD-S | |||
| 20A/214Ins (B.1.214.2) [14] (VUS) |
Swiss and recently in Belgium/November 2020 | Ins214TDR | Spike | Being evaluated Some mutations may be involved in immune escape, transmissibility and ACE2R-S affinity increase |
| Q414K 2, N450K 4,2, D614G 1 | ||||
| T716I 2 | ||||
| 20A.(EU2) [14,28] |
Europe/Summer 2020 | S477N 2,4 | RBM-S | Majority of sequences in Europe in autumn 2020 Some mutations may be involved in immune escape, and ACE2R-S affinity increase |
| D614G 1 | CTD-S | |||
| 20B/484K (P.2) [14] (VOI) |
Brazil/April 2021 | E484K 4, D614G 1, |
Spike | Being evaluated Detected sporadically in France |
| V1176F 2 | S2-Domain | |||
| 20B/501Y (P.3) [14,28] (VOI) |
Philippines/January 2021 | E484K 4, N501Y 2, D614G 1, |
Spike | Being evaluated Not detected in France |
| P681H 7, | Furin cleavage site | |||
| V1176F 2 | S2-Domain | |||
| 20A/484Q (B.1.617) [29] (VOI) |
India (Maharashtra state (Mumbai))/October 2020 | E484Q, L452R 4,6 | Spike | Under investigation |
1 Promotion of transmissibility; 2 modulation of Spike and/or ACE2R interaction; 3 impact of RT-PCR diagnosis tests; 4 immune escape; 5 allowing accumulation of other mutations; 6 adaptive/replicative advantage, enhancing S1/S2 cleavage; 7 C Terminal Domain-Spike (CTD-S); N Terminal Domain-Spike (NTD-S); receptor Binding Motif-Spike (RBM-S); Receptor Binding Domain-Spike (RBD-S); variant of concern (VOC); variant of interest (VOI); variant under surveillance (VUS).