title: Ugandan Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus phylogeny: evidence for cross-ethnic transmission of viral subtypes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to test the relationship between Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) phylogeny and host ethnicity at the within-country scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  KSHV genomic DNA samples were isolated from 31 patients across eleven Ugandan ethnic groups. Amino acid sequences of the ORF-K1 gene were used to construct a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A5 and B1 variants predominated with no evidence of distinct ethnic or geographic distribution. A new K1 subtype (F) was identified in a member of the Bantu Gisu tribe and a new subtype B variant (B3) among members of the Bantu Ganda tribe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The phylogeny may yet be structured by host ethnicity if members of Ugandan groups have convoluted biological origins, even as they identify with single tribes. An alternative possibility is that KSHV subtype evolution may have preceded major diversification of sub-Saharan Africans into ethnicities as we know them today, with ethnic groups beginning their histories already hosting multiple subtypes. A third alternative is that horizontal transmission of multiple KSHV subtypes may have broken up vertical lineages of the virus passed down within Ugandan populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Makerere University Medical School, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kajumbula
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Jian-Chao
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zong
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hokello
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sussman
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simms
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Rockwell
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pozos
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boto
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000208:ethnology / Q000821:virology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; C111600:K1 protein, Human herpesvirus 8; D014764:Viral Proteins