loading . . . A divergent betacoronavirus with a functional furin cleavage site in South American bats Bats are natural reservoirs for a wide range of RNA viruses. Members of the genus Betacoronavirus , including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus (MERS-CoV), have attracted particular attention due to their recent zoonotic emergence. However, much of the known diversity of betacoronaviruses is based on data from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, with limited genomic information available from the Americas. Herein, we report the complete genome of a novel bat betacoronavirus identified from a Pteronotus parnellii bat sampled in Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this virus is sufficiently distinct from the five recognized Betacoronavirus subgenera to represent a new subgenus. Of note, the spike protein of this novel bat coronavirus possesses a functional furin cleavage site at the S1/S2 junction with a unique amino acid sequence motif (RDAR) that differs from that found in SARS-CoV-2 (RRAR) by only one amino acid. Comparative structural analysis identified other betacoronaviruses in bats with furin cleavage sites at the S1/S2 junction, suggesting that this region is a structurally permissive “hotspot” for cleavage site incorporation. Our study provides a broader understanding of the phylogenetic and functional diversity of bat coronaviruses as well as their zoonotic potential.
### Competing Interest Statement
Y.K. has received unrelated grant support from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., Tauns Laboratories, Inc., Shionogi & Co. Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., KM Biologics Co. Ltd., Kyoritsu Seiyaku Corporation, Shinya Corporation and Fuji Rebio, Inc. Y.K. is a co-founder of FluGen. The other authors do not have any competing interests.
KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, 16H06429, 16K21723, 16H06434
KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), JP22H02521
KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists, 25K18814, 22K15469
KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows, 21J01036
AMED Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, JP19fk0108113, JP19fk018113
AMED, JP223fa627002, JP22am0401030, JP23fk0108659
AMED Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation (AMED-CREST), 22gm1610010h0001
Takeda Science Foundation, https://ror.org/02y123g31
RIKAKEN HOLDINGS CO. Young Researcher Support Grant-in-aid
National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Investigator grant, GNT2017197 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.24.684489v1
