title: Molecular characterization of a complex, recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolate (A/G/J/K/?): evidence to support the existence of a novel HIV-1 subtype.
abstract: Recombination is one of several factors that contribute to the great genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In the current study, analysis of the full-length genome of a novel complex mosaic HIV-1 isolate (99GR303) from a Greek sailor who was possibly infected in Sierra Leone, Africa is presented. The 99GR303 isolate was found to comprise genomic regions belonging to subtypes A, G, J and K as well as of regions of a subtype that remains unclassified. For a partial region of env as well as vpr, no apparent similarity to the known HIV-1 subtypes or to any of the circulating recombinant forms was found. In fact, in the partial env gene, including the C2-V3 region, the 99GR303 isolate formed a new clade, suggesting the existence of an additional HIV-1 subtype. Thus, novel recombinants embody partial genomic regions which may have originated either from subtypes that existed in the past and became extinct or from contemporary subtypes that are extremely rare.
authors.affiliation: National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias Street, GR-115 27 Athens (Goudi), Greece1.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paraskevis
authors.affiliation: National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias Street, GR-115 27 Athens (Goudi), Greece1.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Magiorkinis
authors.affiliation: National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias Street, GR-115 27 Athens (Goudi), Greece1.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Magiorkinis
authors.affiliation: National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias Street, GR-115 27 Athens (Goudi), Greece1.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anastassopoulou
authors.affiliation: Red Cross Hospital, Athens, Greece2.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazanas
authors.affiliation: Tzanio General Hospital, Piraeus, Greece3.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chrysos
authors.affiliation: Rega Institute for Medical Research and University Hospitals, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium4.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vandamme
authors.affiliation: National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, 75 Mikras Asias Street, GR-115 27 Athens (Goudi), Greece1.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatzakis
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000821:virology; D001483:Base Sequence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic