Non-recombinant, near-full length reference clones for HIV-1 subtypes A through H.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Non-recombinant, near-full length reference clones for HIV-1 subtypes A through H.

Conf Adv AIDS Vaccine Dev. 1997 May 4-7;:53. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/97927037
Gao F; Robertson DL; Morrison SG; Carruthers C; Jian B; Chen Y; Srinivasan A; Girard M; Barre-Sinoussi F; Hahn BH; University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. Fax: (205); 934-1580.

Abstract: The classification of HIV-1 into distinct lineages, known as sequence subtypes, within the HIV-1 group M radiation is almost exclusively based on gag and env gene sequences. Except for viruses of subtype B, there are very few full length reference sequences, thus making subtype assignments in regions other than gag and env problematic. Moreover, several reference clones originally thought to be non-recombinant, were subsequently identified to contain mosaic genomes of considerable complexity. To generate reliable standards for subtype classification, we have thus cloned nine additional HIV-1 proviruses (by long PCR or lambda phage techniques) from primary PBMC-derived isolates, sequenced them in their entirety, and analyzed their genome for evidence of recombination using several different phylogenetic approaches. The results showed that seven of the nine clones represented non-recombinant members of HIV-1 subtypes A 92UG037), C (92BR025), D (84ZR085 and 94UG114), F (92BR020), G JV1083), and H (U4056), while the two others (92RW009, G3) comprised A/C and A/G recombinants with several points of crossovers. Inspector of the deduced amino acid sequences revealed that most clones had inactivating mutations in essential viral coding regions. However, experiments are underway to correct these mutations in order to generate biologically active reference clones. These clones will be essential for future studies aimed to identify correlates of immune protection against members of all clades, as well as for defining the biological consequences of intersubtype recombination.

Keywords: *HIV-1/CLASSIFICATION
971130
M97B1186

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