SARS-related coronavirus is a member of the genus Betacoronavirus (group 2) and monotypic of the subgenus Sarbecovirus (subgroup B). Sarbecoviruses, unlike embecoviruses or alphacoronaviruses, have only one papain-like proteinase (PLpro) instead of two in the open reading frame ORF1ab. SARSr-CoV was determined to be an early split-off from the betacoronaviruses based on a set of conserved domains that it shares with the group. Bats serve as the main host reservoir species for the SARS-related coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. The virus has coevolved in the bat host reservoir over a long period of time. Only recently have strains of SARS-related coronavirus been observed to have evolved into having been able to make the cross-species jump from bats to humans, as in the case of the strains SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. Both of these strains descended from a single ancestor but made the cross-species jump into humans separately. SARS-CoV-2 is not a direct descendant of SARS-CoV-1.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus
Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus
Chinese coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Civet SARS-CoV
Influenza D virus
SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant