Comparative susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV to mammals. Tylonycteris robustula

Exploring wild reservoirs of pathogenic viruses is critical for their long-term control and for predicting future pandemic scenarios. Here, a comparative in vitro infection analysis was first performed on 83 cell cultures derived from 55 mammalian species using pseudotyped viruses bearing S proteins from SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. Cell cultures from Thomas's horseshoe bat, king horseshoe bat, green monkey, and ferret were found to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV pseudotyped viruses. Moreover, five variants (del69-70, D80Y, S98F, T572I, and Q675H) that beside spike receptor-binding domain can significantly alter the host tropism of SARS-CoV-2. An examination of phylogenetic signals of transduction rates revealed that closely related taxa generally have similar susceptibility to MERS-CoV but not to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped viruses. Additionally, we discovered the expression of entry receptors, i.e., ACE2 and DPP4, shown poor correlation with susceptibility to infection across mammalian taxa. This study provides a basic documentation of likely susceptibility, variants, and molecules that underline the cross-species transmission of these coronaviruses.