Genome-wide association study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Chinese population

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health concern. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between genetic variants and SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population. A total of 256 individuals including 87 symptomatic patients (tested positive for SARS-CoV-2), 84 asymptomatic cases, and 85 close contacts of confirmed patients (tested negative for SARS-CoV-2) were recruited from February 2020 to May 2020. We carried out the whole exome genome sequencing between the individuals and conducted a genetic association study for SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity. In total, we analyzed more than 100,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The genome-wide association study suggested potential correlation between genetic variability in POLR2A , ANKRD27 , MAN1A2 , and ERAP1 genes and SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility. The most significant gene locus associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection was located in POLR2A ( p = 5.71 × 10 −6 ). Furthermore, genetic variants in PCNX2 , CD200R1L , ZMAT3 , PLCL2 , NEIL3 , and LINC00700 genes ( p < 1 × 10 −5 ) were closely associated with the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population. Our study confirmed that new genetic variant loci had significant association with SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population, which provided new clues for the studies on the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity. These findings may give a better understanding on the molecular pathogenesis of COVID-19 and genetic basis of heterogeneous susceptibility, with potential impact on new therapeutic options.