Phylodynamics of HIV-1 subtype C epidemic in east Africa.

ABSTRACT: The HIV-1 subtype C accounts for an important fraction of HIV infections in east Africa, but little is known about the genetic characteristics and evolutionary history of this epidemic. Here we reconstruct the origin and spatiotemporal dynamics of the major HIV-1 subtype C clades circulating in east Africa. A large number (n = 1,981) of subtype C pol sequences were retrieved from public databases to explore relationships between strains from the east, southern and central African regions. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis of those sequences revealed that most (>70%) strains from east Africa segregated in a single regional-specific monophyletic group, here called C(EA). A second major Ethiopian subtype C lineage and a large collection of minor Kenyan and Tanzanian subtype C clades of

SUBMITTER: Delatorre EO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3407063 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature