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Updated: Sep 29, 2026
Genotypic Inference of HIV-1 Tropism Using Population-based Sequencing of V3
Published on: December 27, 2010
Envelope sequence variation and phylogenetic relations of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 from endemic areas
Martha C Dominguez1, Andres Castillo, Jesus Cabrera
1Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis, Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Valle, 25360 Cali, Colombia.
Abstract:
The HTLV-1 envelope gene of 12 TSP/HAM patients from two endemic areas of southwest Colombia (Tumaco and Buenaventura) was amplified by nested PCR, sequenced, and compared with previously reported HTLV-1 envelope sequences from isolates worldwide. In general, the sequence divergences among all Colombian samples ranged from 0.1 to 1.6%. Some amino acid substitutions, referring to the ATK-1 prototype strain in the surface domain gp46 and in p21, were highly prevalent in southwest Colombia, suggesting a geographical clustering of mutations in the envelope gene. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the Colombian isolates belong to the HTLV-1a lineage with minor subgroups. The genetic distance between Colombian and Japanese isolates ranged from 0.1 to 1.8%; in comparison, the genetic distance between Colombian and Caribbean isolates ranged from 0.4 to 2.2%. Our results strongly suggest that the actual quasispecies populations in southwest Colombia have been generated by separate, differently timed introductions of virus.
