title: Full-length sequence of hepatitis B virus belonging to genotype H identified in a Japanese patient with chronic hepatitis.
abstract: We have isolated and cloned the full-length nucleotide sequence of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome (denoted HBV-IM806-2) recovered from a Japanese patient with chronic hepatitis. This patient had a history of travel to Bangkok, Thailand, and then suffered the onset of acute hepatitis B 3 months after his return to Japan. The HBV-IM806-2 isolate was composed of 3,215 nucleotides and showed the highest similarity to genotype H of HBV. Interestingly, 24 amino acid residues specific for genotype H were identified throughout the full genome sequence. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis based on the full genome sequence confirmed that IM806-2 belonged to genotype H and was more closely related to the prototype of the Los Angeles strain than to the Nicaragua strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Mitsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Tran Thien Tuan
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Huy
authors.forename: Naomi Khaing Than
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Hlaing
authors.forename: Naohiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: Tetsutaro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sata
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012307:Risk Factors; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D014195:Travel