Fig. 2.

Sequence Distinctiveness as a function of time in geographical regions where VOCs first emerged. Comparison of mutational load and Distinctiveness during the emergence of the Delta variant in (a) India and (b) Brazil. (c) Comparison of mutational load and Distinctiveness in Spike protein of Delta variant in India and Brazil. Venn diagrams compare the positions that contribute to Mutational load or high Distinctiveness (from Supplementary Figure S3). The positions that have high Distinctiveness are highlighted on the protein structures of the Spike protein as spheres (PDB identifier: 6VSB). (a)–(b) Sequences classified as VOCs are brightly colored dots (Alpha: brown, Beta: orange, Gamma: green, Delta: blue, Omicron: magenta) and other sequences are gray dots. Shown on the right is a comparison of the Distinctiveness values for the emerging VOC sequences and contemporary sequences, collected during the indicated time periods (inset and vertical dashed lines).