title: Human infection by genetically diverse SIVSM-related HIV-2 in west Africa.
abstract: Our understanding of the biology and origins of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) derives from studies of cultured isolates from urban populations experiencing epidemic infection and disease. To test the hypothesis that such isolates might represent only a subset of a larger, genetically more diverse group of viruses, we used nested polymerase chain reactions to characterize HIV-2 sequences in uncultured mononuclear blood cells of two healthy Liberian agricultural workers, from whom virus isolation was repeatedly unsuccessful, and from a culture-positive symptomatic urban dweller. Analysis of pol, env and long terminal repeat regions revealed the presence of three highly divergent HIV-2 strains, one of which (from one of the healthy subjects) was significantly more closely related to simian immunodeficiency viruses infecting sooty mangabeys and rhesus macaques (SIVSM/SIVMAC) than to any virus of human derivation. This subject also harboured multiply defective viral genotypes that resulted from hypermutation of G to A bases. Our results indicate that HIV-2, SIVSM and SIVMAC comprise a single, highly diverse group of lentiviruses which cannot be separated into distinct phylogenetic lineages according to species of origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barchue
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Hahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015752:Genes, env; D015751:Genes, pol; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016325:HIV Long Terminal Repeat; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007988:Liberia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics*