Coronavirus Diversity, Phylogeny and Interspecies Jumping

The SARS epidemic has boosted interest in research on coronavirus biodiversity and genomics. Before 2003, there were only 10 coronaviruses with complete genomes available. After the SARS epidemic, up to December 2008, there was an addition of 16 coronaviruses with complete genomes sequenced. These include two human coronaviruses (human coronavirus NL63 and human coronavirus HKU1), 10 other mammalian coronaviruses [bat SARS coronavirus, bat coronavirus (bat-CoV) HKU2, bat-CoV HKU4, bat-CoV HKU5, bat-CoV HKU8, bat-CoV HKU9, bat-CoV 512/2005, bat-CoV 1A, equine coronavirus, and beluga whale coronavirus] and four avian coronaviruses (turkey coronavirus, bulbul coronavirus HKU11, thrush coronavirus HKU12, and munia…