Accessory Protein Immune Evasion Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 in Goa, India (2020–2025): ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, ORF7b, and ORF9b Analysis

This study characterises mutations in five SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins (ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, ORF7b, and ORF9b) across 495 good-quality sequences from Goa, India (2020–2025; GISAID EPI_SET_260610gh) and evaluates their immune evasion implications. ORF3a Q57H was detected in 42% of Delta sequences. ORF9b P10S was detected in 21% of Omicron sequences. One genuine ORF6 Q8* stop codon was identified, consistent with attenuated strain characteristics. Variant-specific accessory protein mutation landscapes are documented for all five pandemic waves. Part of the West Coast and Western Ghats SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance Series. Data: GISAID EpiCoV EPI_SET_260610gh (https://doi.org/10.55876/gis8.260610gh). We gratefully acknowledge all data contributors, i.e., the Authors and their Originating laboratories responsible for obtaining the specimens, and their Submitting laboratories for generating the genetic sequence and metadata and sharing via the GISAID Initiative, on which this research is based. GISAID citations: Elbe & Buckland-Merrett (2017) Global Challenges 1:33–46. doi:10.1002/gch2.1018 | Shu & McCauley (2017) Euro Surveill 22(13):30494. doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.13.30494 | Khare et al. (2021) China CDC Weekly 3(49):1049–1051. doi:10.46234/ccdcw2021.255