AUTHOR=Bittar Cíntia , Possebon Fábio Sossai , Ullmann Leila Sabrina , Geraldini Dayla Bott , da Costa Vivaldo G. , de Almeida Luiz G. P. , da S. Sanches Paulo Ricardo , Nascimento-Júnior Nailton M. , Cilli Eduardo M. , Artico Banho Cecília , Campos Guilherme R. F. , Ferreira Helena Lage , Sacchetto Lívia , da Silva Gislaine C. D. , Parra Maisa C. P. , Moraes Marília M. , da Costa Paulo Inácio , Vasconcelos Ana Tereza R. , Spilki Fernando Rosado , Nogueira Maurício L. , Rahal Paula , Araujo Jr João Pessoa TITLE=The Emergence of the New P.4 Lineage of SARS-CoV-2 With Spike L452R Mutation in Brazil JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.745310 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.745310 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=

The emergence of several SARS-CoV-2 lineages presenting adaptive mutations is a matter of concern worldwide due to their potential ability to increase transmission and/or evade the immune response. While performing epidemiological and genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in samples from Porto Ferreira—São Paulo—Brazil, we identified sequences classified by pangolin as B.1.1.28 harboring Spike L452R mutation, in the RBD region. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these sequences grouped into a monophyletic branch, with others from Brazil, mainly from the state of São Paulo. The sequences had a set of 15 clade defining amino acid mutations, of which six were in the Spike protein. A new lineage was proposed to Pango and it was accepted and designated P.4. In samples from the city of Porto Ferreira, P.4 lineage has been increasing in frequency since it was first detected in March 2021, corresponding to 34.7% of the samples sequenced in June, the second in prevalence after P.1. Also, it is circulating in 30 cities from the state of São Paulo, and it was also detected in one sample from the state of Sergipe and two from the state of Rio de Janeiro. Further studies are needed to understand whether P.4 should be considered a new threat.