title: Near full-length genome analysis of low prevalent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subclade F1 in São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The genetic diversity of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is critical to lay the groundwork for the design of successful drugs or vaccine. In this study we aimed to characterize and define the molecular prevalence of HIV-1 subclade F1 currently circulating in São Paulo, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 36 samples were selected from 888 adult patients residing in São Paulo who had previously been diagnosed in two independent studies in our laboratory as being infected with subclade F1 based on pol subgenomic fragment sequencing. Proviral DNA was amplified from the purified genomic DNA of all 36 blood samples by 5 fragments overlapping PCR followed by direct sequencing. Sequence data were obtained from the 5 fragments of pure subclade F1 and phylogenetic trees were constructed and compared with previously published sequences. Subclades F1 that exhibited mosaic structure with other subtypes were omitted from any further analysis
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our methods of fragment amplification and sequencing confirmed that only 5 sequences inferred from pol region as subclade F1 also holds true for the genome as a whole and, thus, estimated the true prevalence at 0.56%. The results also showed a single phylogenetic cluster of the Brazilian subclade F1 along with non-Brazilian South American isolates in both subgenomic and the full-length genomes analysis with an overall intrasubtype nucleotide divergence of 6.9%. The nucleotide differences within the South American and Central African F1 strains, in the C2-C3 env, were 8.5% and 12.3%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All together, our findings showed a surprisingly low prevalence rate of subclade F1 in Brazil and suggest that these isolates originated in Central Africa and subsequently introduced to South America.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Pro-Sangue, Hemocentro, São Paulo, Brazil. sabyem_63@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Sabri Saeed
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sanabani
authors.forename: Evelyn Regina de Souza
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Pastena
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kleine Neto
authors.forename: Claudia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: Kelly T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Erika M N
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kalmar
authors.forename: Suzete
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Ester Cerdeira
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Sabino
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral