N440K variant 10 times more contagious, fuel Covid boom

Hyderabad: The N440K variant of the SARS-CoV-2, which is geographically distributed over Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, has the ability to generate large amounts of infectious virus particles in a short time and spread rapidly across the population, which is an advantage over other mutations, said a new study by geneticists from the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).

The CCMB study on the N440K variant also explains the reason for the rapid rise of Covid infections in Telangana during the second wave, especially in April, which in just one month increased the increase in active cases from just 6,159 to 80,000.

The N440K can generate about ten times more virus particles than the A2a prototype, the strain that is circulating worldwide. The ability to generate larger amounts of infectious virus particles within a short period of time makes N440K characteristic of other mutations, the CCMB study said.

“Our studies unequivocally show that the N440K variant has the ability to generate significantly higher and more infectious virus particles in a shorter period of time. The study suggests that this feature may promote faster distribution among certain populations. We predict that the higher contagion capacity achieved by the N440K variant could potentially lead to the higher transfer rate, ” the study reads.

The research, which will be available online from April 30 in its version on bioRxiv at bioRxiv, analyzed the appearance, replicative fitness and infectivity of N440K. “The variant produced ten times higher infectious titers than a common A2a strain and more than 1,000 times higher titers than the prototype of the a3i strain which is much less common,” said researchers.

The N440K mutation is thought to be responsible for super-infections and the rapid spread of the infection in certain pockets. The mutation has been reported in several viral sequences in India, especially between March and April 2021 in Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. In their study, the CCMB researchers found that the version of the N440K variant gradually increased between March and April, adding more of this variant than in previous months.

‘An increase in the number of N440K variants in the Indian samples is also evident with almost 10 per cent of the series submitted in April bearing this replacement. “Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Chhattisgarh together contributed about 50 percent of these samples, indicating the geographical distribution of this variant in India,” said researchers. The study was conducted by CCMB in collaboration with the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad.

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Source: Telangana Today