Effects of genomic recombination on SARS-CoV-2 evolution and the growth of the recombinant variant XFG in Germany

In recent several years, multiple predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants that spread worldwide were derived from genomic recombination between SARS-CoV-2 lineages with diversified genetic backgrounds. However, the current understanding about the effects of recombination on SARS-CoV-2 evolution and functional aspects is limited. In this study, to achieve one overview regarding the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant variants, phylogenetic analyses have been performed to evaluate the divergence of representative Omicron recombinant variants from the predicted original Omicron lineage as well as the phylogenetic distances among these variants. As one example of predominant recombinant variants, we als