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Poking COVID-19: Insights on Genomic Constraints among Immune-Related Genes between Qatari and Italian Populations.

Authors :
Mbarek H
Cocca M
Al-Sarraj Y
Saad C
Mezzavilla M
AlMuftah W
Cocciadiferro D
Novelli A
Quinti I
AlTawashi A
Salvaggio S
AlThani A
Novelli G
Ismail SI
Source :
Genes [Genes (Basel)] 2021 Nov 22; Vol. 12 (11). Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 22.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Host genomic information, specifically genomic variations, may characterize susceptibility to disease and identify people with a higher risk of harm, leading to better targeting of care and vaccination. Italy was the epicentre for the spread of COVID-19 in Europe, the first country to go into a national lockdown and has one of the highest COVID-19 associated mortality rates. Qatar, on the other hand has a very low mortality rate. In this study, we compared whole-genome sequencing data of 14398 adults and Qatari-national to 925 Italian individuals. We also included in the comparison whole-exome sequence data from 189 Italian laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases. We focused our study on a curated list of 3619 candidate genes involved in innate immunity and host-pathogen interaction. Two population-gene metric scores, the Delta Singleton-Cohort variant score (DSC) and Sum Singleton-Cohort variant score (SSC), were applied to estimate the presence of selective constraints in the Qatari population and in the Italian cohorts. Results based on DSC and SSC metrics demonstrated a different selective pressure on three genes (MUC5AC, ABCA7, FLNA) between Qatari and Italian populations. This study highlighted the genetic differences between Qatari and Italian populations and identified a subset of genes involved in innate immunity and host-pathogen interaction.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2073-4425
Volume :
12
Issue :
11
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Genes
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
34828448
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12111842