Gao Feng
Human Vaccine Institute, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2005;304:399-407. doi: 10.1385/1-59259-907-9:399.
The genomes of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), like those of HIV-1, are not only extremely variable but are also highly recombinogenic. Determination of subtypes based on partial genomes cannot predict the subtype classification of other regions of the genome owing to the frequent occurrence of recombinant genomes among subtypes. To fully understand the genetic variation and evolution of HIV-2s, full-length viral genomes need to be obtained for genetic analysis. Full-length HIV-2 genomes can also be used as infectious clones to study viral biological characteristics and as reference sequences for phylogenetic analysis. More important, all genes in the obtained genomes can be cloned into expression vectors to produce proteins that can be used as antigens for diagnostic reagents or as immunogens for vaccine development. The long-range polymerase chain reaction technique has recently become a more preferred method than the lambda phage cloning method to obtain near-full-length HIV-2 genomes.
与HIV-1一样，2型人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV-2）的基因组不仅极具变异性，而且具有高度重组性。基于部分基因组确定亚型无法预测基因组其他区域的亚型分类，因为亚型间频繁出现重组基因组。为全面了解HIV-2的基因变异和进化，需要获取全长病毒基因组进行遗传分析。全长HIV-2基因组还可作为感染性克隆用于研究病毒生物学特性，以及作为系统发育分析的参考序列。更重要的是，所获基因组中的所有基因可克隆到表达载体中以生产蛋白质，这些蛋白质可用作诊断试剂的抗原或疫苗开发的免疫原。与λ噬菌体克隆方法相比，长程聚合酶链反应技术最近已成为获取近乎全长HIV-2基因组的更优选方法。
