title: Identification of a novel HIV-1 circulating ADG intersubtype recombinant form (CRF19_cpx) in Cuba.
abstract: Circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) represent a substantial proportion of HIV-1 isolates in the global pandemic. Characterization of HIV-1 genetic forms, including CRFs, may be relevant to studies on molecular epidemiology, recombination, superinfection, vaccine development, and antiretroviral therapy. This study analyzes near complete genomes of 4 epidemiologically unlinked viruses from Cuba, originally characterized as D/A intersubtype recombinants in pol and env segments. The genomes of 3 viruses exhibited virtually coincident mosaic structures, with multiple segments of subtypes A, D, and G and uniform phylogenetic clustering with each other along the genome. These results allow us to define a new CRF (CRF19_cpx). The 4th analyzed Cuban virus was recombinant between CRF19_cpx and CRF18_cpx (which also circulates in Cuba). CRF19_cpx exhibited homology to an AG intersubtype recombinant virus from Cameroon (CM53392) along approximately 5 kb and clustered with a subtype D virus from Gabon (G109) in gag. Four other viruses from central or west Africa were also phylogenetically related to CRF19_cpx in env fragments. These results allow us to define CRF19_cpx as a second novel CRF of African origin circulating in Cuba, to identify putative representative viruses of its parental strains, and to characterize a unique CRF18/CRF19 recombinant virus.
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Gema
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casado
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sierra
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nájera
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D003462:Cuba / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015752:Genes, env; D015751:Genes, pol; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA