Cepharanthine analogs mining and genomes of Stephania accelerate anti-coronavirus drug discovery

Abstract Cepharanthine is a secondary metabolite isolated from Stephania . It has been reported that it has anti-conronaviruses activities including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we assemble three Stephania genomes ( S. japonica , S. yunnanensis , and S. cepharantha ), propose the cepharanthine biosynthetic pathway, and assess the antiviral potential of compounds involved in the pathway. Among the three genomes, S. japonica has a near telomere-to-telomere assembly with one remaining gap, and S. cepharantha and S. yunnanensis have chromosome-level assemblies. Following by biosynthetic gene mining and metabolomics analysis, we identify seven cepharanthine analogs that have broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus activities, including SARS-CoV-2, Guangxi pangolin-CoV (GX_P2V), swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV), and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). We also show that two other genera, Nelumbo and Thalictrum , can produce cepharanthine analogs, and thus have the potential for antiviral compound discovery. Results generated from this study could accelerate broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug discovery.