Genetic diversity of the Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus K1 protein in AIDS-KS in Zimbabwe.
BACKGROUND
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) encodes genetically diverse K1 alleles which have unique geographic distributions. Little is known about K1 genetic diversity in Zimbabwe where acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated KS (AIDS-KS) is epidemic.


OBJECTIVE
Evaluate K1 diversity in Zimbabwe and compare Zimbabwean K1 diversity to other areas in Africa.


METHODS
K1 nucleotide sequence was determined for AIDS-KS cases in Zimbabwe. K1 references sequences were obtained from Genbank.


RESULTS
Among 65 Zimbabwean AIDS-KS cases, 26 (40%) were K1 subtype A and 39 (60%) were subtype B. Zimbabwean subtype A sequences grouped only with African intratype A5 variants. Zimbabwean subtype B sequences grouped with multiple intratype African variants: 26 B1 (26%), four B3 (6%) and nine highly divergent B4 (14%). Zimbabwean subtype B had a lower synonymous to nonsynonymous mutation ratio (median 0.59 versus 0.66; P=0.008) and greater distance to the most recent common ancestor (median 0.03 versus 0.009; P<0.001) compared to subtype A. Within the B subgroup, the distribution of intratype B variants differed in Zimbabwe and Uganda (P=0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
Greater positive selection and genetic diversity in K1 subtype B compared to subtype A5 exist in Zimbabwe. However, there were no significant associations between K1 subtype and the clinical or demographic characteristics of AIDS-KS cases.
White
Tiffany
T
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262, USA.
Hagen
Moira
M
Gudza
Ivy
I
White
Irene E
IE
Ndemera
Buxton
B
Gwanzura
Lovemore
L
Borok
Margaret
M
Campbell
Thomas B
TB
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D019288:Herpesvirus 8, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015030:Zimbabwe / Q000453:epidemiology
C111600:K1 protein, Human herpesvirus 8; D014764:Viral Proteins