Recombination: Multiply infected spleen cells in HIV patients.
The genome of the human immunodeficiency virus is highly prone to recombination, although it is not obvious whether recombinants arise infrequently or whether they are constantly being spawned but escape identification because of the massive and rapid turnover of virus particles. Here we use fluorescence in situ hybridization to estimate the number of proviruses harboured by individual splenocytes from two HIV patients, and determine the extent of recombination by sequencing amplified DNA from these cells. We find an average of three or four proviruses per cell and evidence for huge numbers of recombinants and extensive genetic variation. Although this creates problems for phylogenetic analyses, which ignore recombination effects, the intracellular variation may help to broaden immune recognition.
Department of Virology, University of the Saarland, 66421 Homburg, Germany.
Andreas
A
Jung
Reinhard
R
Maier
Jean-Pierre
JP
Vartanian
Gennady
G
Bocharov
Volker
V
Jung
Ulrike
U
Fischer
Eckart
E
Meese
Simon
S
Wain-Hobson
Andreas
A
Meyerhans
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*
D015686:Gene Products, env