Guided by the academician Zhong Nanshan, on February 5, the team led by professors Huang Jicheng and Zhao Jincun of SKLRD worked with the P3 laboratory of bio-safety co-built by Guangzhou Customs Technology Center to successfully isolate a novel coronavirus strain from the sample of a local infection case in Guangzhou. This was the first novel coronavirus strain isolated from a local infection case in Guangzhou as well as the first virus strain isolated by the SKLRD.

The sample was a high-quality throat swab specimen provided by the No. 8 People’s Hospital of Guangzhou. The patient was infected locally in Guangzhou, which was a household cluster infection. Through the inoculation of the sample with multiple cell lines, the SKRLD finally managed to isolate a novel coronavirus strain from the Vero E6 cell. The isolated virus boasts a high research value.

Picture Dr. Sun Jing and Zhu Airu of SKLRD working in P3 lab

At present, the SKRLD and Guangzhou Customs Technology Center have finished the genomic sequencing and mutation analysis for the virus strain. Compared with the reference genome of novel coronavirus (NC 045512.2), mutation has occurred in two important positions of the genes orfla/b and N in the genome of the virus strain, which indicates that the existing detection methods should be further renewed and optimized based on the mutation of virus. After cultivating a lot of viruses, they can provided as important “seed” resources for such issues as mutation of novel coronavirus, screening of drugs against the diseases, research of pathogenesis and research and development of vaccines. The research has won support from the “research and development of drugs against the novel coronavirus”, the fourth program of science and technology of Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology.