Molecular phylogenetics of nearly full-length HIV type 2 envelope gene sequences from West India
Jadhav, S.; Tripathy, S.; Kulkarni, S.; Agnihotri, K.; Risbud, A.; Paranjape, R.
Aids Research and Human Retroviruses 25(1): 115-121
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 1931-8405 PMID: 19182924 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2008.0142Document Number: 204320
Abstract While infection with HIV-1 has become a pandemic, the presence of HIV-2 is also of concern in certain regions of the world. We have characterized the gp105 region of the envelope gene of HIV-2 isolates from Western India. Phylogenetic analysis of all 18 sequences revealed that these sequences were closely related to each other as well as to published African and European HIV-2 group A sequences, with an overall genetic divergence of 10.9% (range 2-14%). Our study sequences showed close relatedness with West African HIV-2 group A (CAM group) sequences from Guinea Bissau with 89% homology. This was further confirmed by SimPlot as well as RIP analysis. Accordingly, the sequences presented here demonstrate the predominance of HIV-2 group A infection and show no evidence of HIV-2 recombination in Western India.