%0 Journal Article %A Tengs, Torstein %A Delwiche, Charles F. %A Monceyron Jonassen, Christine %T A genetic element in the SARS-CoV-2 genome is shared with multiple insect species %D 2021 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 102 %N 3 %@ 1465-2099 %C 001551 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001551 %K positive-sense ssRNA viruses %K horizontal gene transfer %K invertebrates %K COVID-19 %K s2m %K coronaviruses %I Microbiology Society, %X SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the subgenus Sarbecovirus and thus contains the genetic element s2m. We have extensively mined nucleotide data in GenBank in order to obtain a comprehensive list of s2m sequences both in the four virus families where s2m has previously been described and in other groups of organisms. Surprisingly, there seems to be a xenologue of s2m in a large number of insect species. The function of s2m is unknown, but our data show a very high degree of sequence conservation both in insects and in viruses and that the version of s2m found in SARS-CoV-2 has unique features, not seen in any other virus or insect strains. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.001551