- Wertheim, Joel O;
- Wang, Jade C;
- Leelawong, Mindy;
- Martin, Darren P;
- Havens, Jennifer L;
- Chowdhury, Moinuddin A;
- Pekar, Jonathan E;
- Amin, Helly;
- Arroyo, Anthony;
- Awandare, Gordon A;
- Chow, Hoi Yan;
- Gonzalez, Edimarlyn;
- Luoma, Elizabeth;
- Morang’a, Collins M;
- Nekrutenko, Anton;
- Shank, Stephen D;
- Silver, Stefan;
- Quashie, Peter K;
- Rakeman, Jennifer L;
- Ruiz, Victoria;
- Torian, Lucia V;
- Vasylyeva, Tetyana I;
- Kosakovsky Pond, Sergei L;
- Hughes, Scott
Recombination is an evolutionary process by which many pathogens generate diversity and acquire novel functions. Although a common occurrence during coronavirus replication, detection of recombination is only feasible when genetically distinct viruses contemporaneously infect the same host. Here, we identify an instance of SARS-CoV-2 superinfection, whereby an individual was infected with two distinct viral variants: Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Epsilon (B.1.429). This superinfection was first noted when an Alpha genome sequence failed to exhibit the classic S gene target failure behavior used to track this variant. Full genome sequencing from four independent extracts reveals that Alpha variant alleles comprise around 75% of the genomes, whereas the Epsilon variant alleles comprise around 20% of the sample. Further investigation reveals the presence of numerous recombinant haplotypes spanning the genome, specifically in the spike, nucleocapsid, and ORF 8 coding regions. These findings support the potential for recombination to reshape SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity.