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Updated: Jan 4, 2026
Detection of Low Copy Number Integrated Viral DNA Formed by In Vitro Hepatitis B Infection
Published on: November 7, 2018
A systematic genotype and subgenotype re-ranking of hepatitis B virus under a novel classification standard
Yonghua Yin1,2, Kai He3, Bingting Wu1,2
1Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Chengdu 610052, China.
Background And Aim:
It is commonly noticed that chaotic and inefficient subgenotyping are universally used academically and clinically, a standardized HBV genotype/subgenotype classification criterion is urgently acquired. Sequence similarity, which was commonly used for the last three decades, should be upgraded by phylogenetic analysis in genotyping of recombinant-free HBV strains.
Methods:
In this study, 4,429 HBV whole-genome sequences were employed to reconstruct the phylogeny of HBV using Bayesian inference. After excluding recombinant sequences, calculating partitioned evolutionary models, excluding recombinant sequences, reconstructing phylogenetic trees, and performing a correlation analysis of genetic distances, geographical distribution and serotypes, we systematically redefined the genotypes and subgenotypes of HBV.
Results:
Compared to previous taxonomy, fourteen subgenotypes (A5-A7; B5-B9; C2-C4, C7; and D6-D7) were revised in the new standard. Now the HBV is divided into ten genotypes (A-J) and 24 subgenotypes (A1-A3; B1-B5; C1-C6; D1-D6; and F1-F4).
Conclusion:
Our robust genotype/subgenotype new taxonomy has objectively re-molded the current shape of HBV classification. We believe that all future hepatitis B related researches or diagnosis will be benefited under the new HBV genotyping/subgenotyping standards.
