Engelbrecht S, de Villiers T, Sampson C C, zur Megede J, Barnett S W, van Rensburg E J
Department of Medical Virology, University of Stellenbosch and Tygerberg Hospital, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2001 Nov 1;17(16):1533-47. doi: 10.1089/08892220152644241.
South Africa has one of the fastest growing HIV-1 epidemics, with an estimated 4.7 million people infected. To better understand the genetic diversity of this epidemic and its potential impact on vaccine development, we have cloned and sequenced the complete gag and env genes of 13 primary virus isolates. Phylogenetic analysis of our sequences and 69 complete env genes from the Los Alamos and GenBank databases revealed multiple subclusters within subtype C. The V3 loop region was relatively conserved in all our strains when compared with other subtypes, but the region immediately downstream was highly variable. No intersubtype recombinant forms were observed when comparing the gag and env sequences. Characterization of the complete gag and env genes enabled us to select specific strains for further vaccine development.
南非是艾滋病毒-1疫情增长最快的地区之一，估计有470万人感染。为了更好地了解这一疫情的基因多样性及其对疫苗开发的潜在影响，我们克隆并测序了13株原发性病毒分离株的完整gag和env基因。对我们的序列以及来自洛斯阿拉莫斯和基因库数据库的69个完整env基因进行系统发育分析，发现在C亚型内有多个亚群。与其他亚型相比，我们所有菌株的V3环区域相对保守，但紧邻其下游的区域高度可变。比较gag和env序列时未观察到亚型间重组形式。完整gag和env基因的特征分析使我们能够选择特定菌株用于进一步的疫苗开发。
