Identification of a new HIV type 1 BF intersubtype circulating recombinant form (CRF44_BF) in Chile

HIV-1 BF intersubtype recombinants are frequent in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, where among a high diversity of BF unique recombinant forms (URFs), eight circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) have been characterized. Here, we describe a new one, designated CRF44_BF, identified in HIV-1 samples from Chile. In a previous report, where partial pol sequences of 136 HIV-1 infections of Chilean subjects were analyzed, a phylogenetic cluster of HIV-1 recombinant BF viruses from 10 individuals, with coincident intersubtype recombination points, was detected. One virus of this cluster had been characterized along its near full-length genome. A second one, from an epidemiologically unlinked HIV-1-infected subject, is described here. Both genomes share identical mosaic structures, consisting of a predominantly subtype F1 genome with three fragments of subtype B. Coincident breakpoints and phylogenetic clustering of the newly identified CRF44_BF with CRF12_BF, CRF17_BF, and CRF38_BF support a common origin of different CRF_BFs identified in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.