Fig. 1: Omicron BA.2.86 evolution and neutralization escape.

A Changes in BA.2.86 spike relative to Omicron XBB.1.5 and BA.2. Blue shading denotes spike N-terminal ___domain (NTD), brown is receptor-binding ___domain (RBD) and purple is the receptor-binding motif (RBM) within the RBD. B Phylogenetic analysis. BA.2.86 sequences form a distinct cluster separated from BA.2 sequences circulating in late 2021/early 2022 by a long branch. Outgrown sample marked by the arrow. The BA.2.86 branch connects to samples with the mutations C26681T and C24378T (Spike: S939F) but lacks C9866T (ORF1a:K1973R) present in most BA.2 sequences. The emergence date of BA.2.86 and its uncertainty is indicated by a circle with a horizontal bar. C Neutralization of BA.2.86 live virus vs. XBB.1.5 by n = 21 sera from individuals with XBB-derived subvariant infection. D Neutralization of BA.2.86 vs. XBB.1.5 by n = 40 sera from individuals sampled in September 2023. E Neutralization of BA.2.86 vs. ancestral D614G and BA.1 viruses by n = 19 sera from vaccinated individuals collected before Omicron emergence. F Neutralization of BA.2.86 vs. Omicron BA.1 by n = 19 sera from Omicron BA.1 infected individuals. For C–F, the numbers in black above columns are GMT FRNT₅₀ for each group and horizontal dashed lines represent the most concentrated plasma used (1:25), corresponding to the limit of quantification (LOQ) of FRNT₅₀ = 25, below which values are extrapolated. The number of samples below LOQ is shown just above the x-axis. For D, gray lines and points are values below, and blue points and lines are above LOQ and numbers in blue above columns are GMT FRNT₅₀ for samples above LOQ. For E and F, significant fold changes are shown. Significant p-values for E were: ****p = 9 × 10⁻⁶ (D614G vs. BA.1), ****p = 4.0 × 10⁻¹⁰ (D614G vs. BA.2.86), **p = 0.004 (BA.1 vs. BA.2.86). For F: ****p = 6 × 10⁻¹⁰ (BA.1 vs. XBB.1.5) and ****p = 6 × 10^–11 (BA.1 vs. BA.2.86). All p-values by a two-sided Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.