Identification of an env G subtype and heterogeneity of HIV-1 strains in the Russian Federation and Belarus.
OBJECTIVE
To identify HIV-1 envelope sequence subtypes in infected individuals from the Russian Federation and Belarus.


METHODS
A cohort of children infected after exposure to non-sterile needles during the 1988-1989 HIV-1 epidemic in southern Russia (n = 20) and HIV-1-seropositive individuals from Russia (n = 1) and Belarus (n = 7) infected via sexual transmission.


METHODS
DNA samples derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analysed for their HIV-1 genotypes by the heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA). The 1.3 kilobase-pair env gene fragments encoding a portion of gp120 were amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction, cloned and sequenced. The env sequences derived from these patients were aligned and phylogenetic neighbour-joining and maximum parsimony-derived trees generated.


RESULTS
The env sequences derived from eight individuals infected in Russia and Belarus belong to subtype A (one), B (four), C (two), and D (one). Sequences derived from children, infected during parenteral manipulations in southern Russia, and one mother were closely related, but highly divergent, as a group, from all prototypic strains (genetic divergence, 17.2-22.9%). However, they clustered together with env sequences of the V1525 and LBV21-7 isolates from Gabon, recently described to be members of a new HIV-1 env subtype G.


CONCLUSIONS
Extensive heterogeneity of HIV-1 subtypes was evident in the Russian Federation and Belarus. Our data also support the existence of an HIV-1 env genetic subtype G, and such isolates are now apparently present on both the African and European continents. These variants were identified through V3 peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay screening and subsequent HMA analysis. The combination of these techniques represents a model for screening HIV variants within a large population.
Bobkov
A
A
Department of Molecular Virology, D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology, Moscow, Russia.
Cheingsong-Popov
R
R
Garaev
M
M
Rzhaninova
A
A
Kaleebu
P
P
Beddows
S
S
Bachmann
M H
MH
Mullins
J I
JI
Louwagie
J
J
Janssens
W
W
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000235:genetics; D015752:Genes, env; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D004279:DNA, Viral; D015686:Gene Products, env; D009692:Nucleic Acid Heteroduplexes