There has been significant confusion in the scientific literature around the nomenclature used for the accessory proteins of SARS-CoV-2, especially several overlapping genes with ORF3a.[4] Many scientific papers have referred to ORF3d and its protein product as ORF3b, due to confusion caused by differences in the length of ORF3b in SARS-CoV (about 155 codons) and SARS-CoV-2 (only 22 codons).[4] Exacerbating the confusion, both the 57-codon protein product[5] and the 22-codon protein product[6] have been described to have similar effects as interferon antagonists.[4]
The recommended nomenclature for SARS-CoV-2 uses the term ORF3b for the 22-codon gene homologous to the 5' end of ORF3b in SARS-CoV, and uses the term ORF3d for the 57-codon gene.[4]
Comparative genomics
ORF3d is an overlapping gene whose open reading frame overlaps both ORF3a and ORF3c in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. This potentially represents a rare example of all three possible reading frames of the same sequence region encoding functional proteins.[1][4] ORF3d is not present in SARS-CoV or other related coronaviruses, except for a coronavirus found in pangolins.[1] SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences have been extensively sampled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and examples of SARS-CoV-2 variants with truncations in ORF3d due to the introduction of a stop codon have been identified with relatively high prevalence.[1][7]
Bioinformatics analysis of the ORF3d region suggests that the sequence of the predicted protein product is not well conserved and raises the possibility that the gene does not encode a functional protein, despite experimental evidence of protein expression.[8]
Expression
The ORF3d protein has two isoforms, one 57 amino acid residues long and one 33 residues long, the latter of which is known as ORF3d-2.[1] There is experimental evidence from studies such as ribosome profiling for expression of at least ORF3d-2, without clear evidence for the full-length ORF3d.[1][2]
Function
The function of the ORF3d protein is not known, and it is possible that the gene does not code for a protein with any functional role in the viral life cycle.[8] When expressed under experimental conditions in cell culture, the ORF3d protein appears to be an interferon antagonist.[5]