Identification Of Key Amino Acids. Bat Ace2 And Sars-cov S Protein Interaction

As we know, bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-Like Coronoviruses, but very limited studies about ACE2 were reported. Our research aim is to clone the ACE2 from different bat species, analyze the ACE2 sequence among the human, palm civet and rat. Meanwhile, we also analyze the interaction between S protein and ACE2, to predict whether bat ACE2 is a functional receptor for SARS-CoV. We also want to know how the bat ACE2 functions on the transmission of SARS coronaviruses. We got the results as follows:1. We got the full or part sequence of ACE2 from Rousettus leschenaultia, Cynopterus sphinx, Rhinolophus sinicus, Rhinolophus affinis and Hipposicleros pratti by RT-PCR. The bats ACE2 has 2,418 base pairs as same as human ACE2 which encodes 805 amino acid.2. Phylogenetic analysis showed the bats ACE2 had around 80% similarity to human ACE2. And 80-90% similarity among different bats species which indicated that there is a great diversity in bats ACE2.3. Based on the analysis of bats ACE2, we predicted that the residues FYQ at 40-42 in ACE2 were the key for interaction between SARS-CoV S protein and ACE2.4. Sequence alignment of the ACE2 proteins from bats and human showed that the residues Y at 41 in ACE2 of Rousettus leschenaultia, Cynopterus sphinx, and Rhinolophus affinis match to human ACE2. This means the three bats species might be infected by SARS-Coronaviruses and these bats play a key role on the SARS coronaviruses transmission.