3.2 Prediction of functional constraints of the TMPRSS2 across
vertebrate species
We scored the TMPRSS2 protein sequence for all the collected 164 species
(Table 1 & Table S3). Scores from high to low were correspondent to
Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia, Osteichthyes and Chondrichthyes,
except for the Puma concolor, Athene cunicularia, Geospiza fortisand Anarrhichthys ocellatus , because these four species have
amino change at the catalytic triad of TMPRSS2. From the global point of
view, this result was highly consistent with the prediction from the
phylogenetic tree. As expected, the primates scored the highest marks of
over 95. Besides, other animals have been proven to be infected with the
SARS-CoV-2, including pangolin, cat, dog, and hamster, have scored
higher than 91. Especially, no damaging amino acid change was predicted
in the hamster. In addition, only one probably or possibly damaging
mutation was found in rat and mouse, even lesser than that of pangolin
and cat. When focusing on animals that are closely related to humans,
livestock has a much higher score than that of poultry.
Table 1. Prediction of functional constraints of the TMPRSS2 in 36
selected species.