ACEII Gene Analysis Exposes SARS-Cov-2 as A Potential Threat to Agricultural and National Security

Author(s): Ruhl Michael W, Jenkins Tracie M

Coronavirus is now a significant human pathogen with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. However, until now, there has been no data to support a threat to agricultural industries. Using a comparative genomic protein analysis, this study examined the angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACEII) gene of 17 animal species of animals. The 20 known SARS-CoV-2 ribosomal binding domain (RBD)-ACEII gene interaction sites were compared to the 17 animal species to determine their potential susceptibility to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Using the known bat host’s (XP_032963186) number of binding sites as a threshold, we note that all animal species examined in this study contained significant numbers (≥10) of SARS-CoV-2 binding sites and should be considered at serious risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The data from this study suggests SARS-CoV-2 imposes a grave threat to the safety and security of the agricultural industry. Urgent studies are needed to determine if infected animals can transmit SARS-CoV-2 before and after processing.