Envelope sequence variation and phylogenetic relations of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 from endemic areas of Colombia.
The HTLV-1 envelope gene of 12 TSP/HAM patients from two endemic areas of southwest Colombia (Tumaco and Buenaventura) was amplified by nested PCR, sequenced, and compared with previously reported HTLV-1 envelope sequences from isolates worldwide. In general, the sequence divergences among all Colombian samples ranged from 0.1 to 1.6%. Some amino acid substitutions, referring to the ATK-1 prototype strain in the surface domain gp46 and in p21, were highly prevalent in southwest Colombia, suggesting a geographical clustering of mutations in the envelope gene. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the Colombian isolates belong to the HTLV-1a lineage with minor subgroups. The genetic distance between Colombian and Japanese isolates ranged from 0.1 to 1.8%; in comparison, the genetic distance between Colombian and Caribbean isolates ranged from 0.4 to 2.2%. Our results strongly suggest that the actual quasispecies populations in southwest Colombia have been generated by separate, differently timed introductions of virus.
Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis, Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Valle, 25360 Cali, Colombia.
Martha C
MC
Dominguez
Andres
A
Castillo
Jesus
J
Cabrera
Yoshito
Y
Eizuru
Felipe
F
Garcia-Vallejo
D001483:Base Sequence; D003105:Colombia; D017931:DNA Primers; D015752:Genes, env; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017354:Point Mutation
D017931:DNA Primers