Importance of E484K and N501Y mutations in SARS-CoV-2 for genomic surveillance: rapid detection by restriction enzyme analysis

Introduction: Variants of Concern of SARS-CoV-2 (VOCs), the new coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, have emerged in several countries. Two mutations in the gene coding for the Spike protein of the viral genome are particularly important and associated with some of these variants: E484K and N501Y. Restriction enzyme analysis is proposed as a rapid method to detect these two mutations. Methodology: A search on GISAID was performed in April 2021 to detect the frequency of these two mutations in the sequence available and their association with other lineages. A small amplicon from the Spike gene was digested with two enzymes: HpyAV, which allows detecting E484K mutation, and MseI, for detecting the N501Y one. Results: The mutations E484K and N501Y, associated with VOCs, have emerged in several other lineages, particularly E484K. A 100% correlation was observed with sequencing results. Conclusions: The proposed methodology, which allows screening a great number of samples, will probably help to provide more information on the prevalence and epidemiology of these mutations worldwide, to select the candidates for whole-genome sequencing.