Genetic and Phylogenetic Analyses of HIV-1 Subtype Bā from Professional Plasma Donors in the Peopleās Republic of China: Evidence for Common Source Infection
In a collaborative study with the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine
in Beijing, we have analyzed the HIV-1 among professional plasma donors in the
Peopleās Republic of China. Genomic
DNA, extracted from filter paper-blotted blood samples, collected in December
1996, from 19 HIV-1-seropositive professional plasma donors (16 women and 3 men;
age range, 25-59 years) living in rural areas of eastern China, were analyzed by
amplification and sequencing of a 273-nucleotide region spanning the V3 loop of
the gp120-encoding env gene and a
560-nucleotide region encompassing the 5ā p24 gag gene of HIV-1. Nucleotide
sequence alignment and comparison based on the 273-nucleotide env
region, indicated that the HIV-1 strains from rural eastern China were
genetically most similar to subtype Bā isolates, diverging from Thai and
southwestern Chinese (from Yunnan) subtype Bā strains by 1.8-7.3% and
1.5-5.9%, respectively, and differing from HXB2, the North American subtype B
prototype, by 19-20.9%. However, the mean nucleotide
sequence similarity based on the 526-nucleotide gag
gene indicated that the HIV-1 strains from eastern China were genetically
similar to the subtype B isolate HXB2 by 95%, and differed from subtype A/E
strains from Thailand by 15%. The
interstrain gag and env nucleotide
sequence similarity among the eastern China HIV-1 strains was 2-3% and 0.4-4.4%,
respectively. Phylogenetic analysis
based on gag and env
gene sequences, revealed that the eastern China HIV-1 strains formed a
monophyletic group. Although 60% of the
nearly 5,000 HIV-1/AIDS cases reported in PRC have been from the southwestern
province of Yunnan, infection is becoming widespread within the interior of PRC.
Thus far, HIV-1 subtypes B, C and E have been identified among high-risk
behavior groups in China. The uniform occurrence and high interstrain similarity
of subtype Bā strains among PD in eastern China is consistent with a common
source of infection. Intensified
efforts are underway to analyze proviral HIV-1 sequences from additional DNA
samples from high-risk behavior groups in the Peopleās Republic of China.
Nerurkar,
V.R., Wu, Z., Dashwood, W-M., Woodward, C.L., Zhang, M., Detels, R., and
Yanagihara, R.: Complete nef
gene sequence of HIV type 1 subtype Bā from professional plasma donors in the
Peoplesās Republic of China. AIDS
Research and Human Retroviruses 1998;14:461-464.
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