Zhu T, Korber BT, Nahmias AJ, Hooper E, Sharp PM, Ho DD; Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Program Abstr 5th Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect Conf Retrovir Oppor Infect 5th 1998 Chic Ill. 1998 Feb 1-5; 5th: 132 (abstract no. 280).

Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, NY.

Considerable genetic diversity is found today among viruses of different subtypes (designated A through J) in the major (M) group of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the form dominant in the global epidemic. HIV-1 sequences predating the recognition of AIDS, if available, could be crucial in defining the time of origin and the subsequent evolution of these viruses in humans. We report here the amplification and characterization of viral sequences from a 1959 Africa plasma sample previously found to be HIV-1 seropositive. Multiple phylogenetic analyses not only authenticate this case as the oldest known HIV-1 infection but also place its viral sequence near the ancestral node of subtypes B and D in the M-group viruses, suggesting that these HIV-1 subtypes, and perhaps all M-group viruses, evolved from a single introduction into the Africa population in a time frame not long before 1959.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Africa
• Base Sequence
• Disease Outbreaks
• HIV Seropositivity
• HIV-1
• Humans
• Variation (Genetics)
• genetics

Other ID:

• 98929207

UI: 102235860

From Meeting Abstracts