Ruhl Michael W, Jenkins Tracie M. ACEII Gene Analysis Exposes SARS-Cov-2 as A Potential Threat to Agricultural and National Security. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences 11 (2021): 443-455.
Ruhl Michael W, Jenkins Tracie M. ACEII Gene Analysis Exposes SARS-Cov-2 as A Potential Threat to Agricultural and National Security. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences 11 (2021): 443-455.
Ruhl Michael W, Jenkins Tracie M. ACEII Gene Analysis Exposes SARS-Cov-2 as A Potential Threat to Agricultural and National Security. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences 11 (2021): 443-455.
Ruhl Michael W, Jenkins Tracie M. ACEII Gene Analysis Exposes SARS-Cov-2 as A Potential Threat to Agricultural and National Security. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences 11 (2021): 443-455.
Abstract
Coronavirus is now a significant human pathogen with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Until now there has been no data to support a threat to agricultural industries. Using a comparative genomic protein analysis, this study examined the angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACEII) gene of 17 animal species with an emphasis on agriculture. To determine viral vulnerability the 20 known SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)/ACEII receptor interaction sites were compared to determine their potential susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. With the known bat host’s (XP_032963186) number of binding sites as a threshold, we note that ALL animal species examined in this study contained significant numbers (≥10) of SARS-CoV-2 binding sites and could be at risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The data from this study suggest SARS-CoV-2 imposes a grave threat to the safety and security of the agricultural industry. Urgent studies are needed to determine if infected animals can transmit SARS-CoV-2 before and/or after processing.
Keywords
food safety; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; ACEII; agricultural security; national security
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
