title: Complete genomes for hepatitis C virus subtypes 6f, 6i, 6j and 6m: viral genetic diversity among Thai blood donors and infected spouses.
abstract: In this study, the first complete genome sequences for hepatitis C virus (HCV) subtypes 6f, 6i, 6j and 6m, obtained from infected blood donors in Chiang Mai, Thailand, are reported. Pairwise genome-wide nucleotide similarities between some of these isolates were higher than the 75-80% value used previously to define different HCV subtypes. To investigate further, the entire genomes of four prototype isolates, Th602 (6i), Th553 (6j), B4/92 (6m) and D86/93 (6n), were sequenced. Pairwise comparison of these sequences gave a similar range of nucleotide similarities, thereby providing new information for HCV subtype classification. In order to study the hypothesis of interspousal HCV transmission, four additional complete HCV genome sequences were obtained from two infected Thai blood donors and their spouses, C-0044 and C-0046 (6f), and C-0192 and C-0185 (6m). Pairwise comparison of the sequences revealed that C-0044 and C-0046 share a nucleotide similarity of 98.1%, whilst C-0185 and C-0192 have a similarity of 97.8%. Several other studies of partial HCV sequences of different genomic regions from HCV-infected couples have shown nucleotide similarities ranging from 96.3 to 100%. The similarities of the complete genome sequences from the two couples in the current study are consistent with HCV transmission between spouses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, 4035 Delp, MS 1023, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: The First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming, China.|Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, 4035 Delp, MS 1023, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Gunagzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yongshui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Lakkana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thaikruea
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Satawat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thongswat
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Niwat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maneekarn
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Chatchawann
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Apichartpiyakul
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Kobe University School of Medicine, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650, Japan.
authors.forename: Hak
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi-Ken, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Netski
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Pybus
authors.affiliation: Institut National de Santé Publique du Quebec, Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Quebec, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, 4035 Delp, MS 1023, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
authors.forename: Curt H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hagedorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.|Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kenrad E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D001782:Blood Donors; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018454:Spouses; D013785:Thailand
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral