Identification of Two Novel HIV-1 Unique Recombinant Forms in Shenzhen, China

Homosexual contact is one of the main transmission routes of the HIV-1 epidemic in Shenzhen. Several subtypes of HIV-1 are prevalent among men who have sex with men simultaneously, which provides favorable conditions for the formation of a unique recombinant form (URF). In this study, we reported two URFs of HIV-1 (LS10525 and LS13740) infected through homosexual contact in Shenzhen. Phylogeny and recombination analyses based on the nearly full-length genome indicated that LS10525 was a second-generation recombinant strain composed of circulating recombinant form (CRF)07_BC and CRF59_01B, and LS13740 was a second-generation recombinant strain composed of CRF07_BC and CRF55_01B. The emergence of the novel structure of URFs urgently needs to surveil the HIV-1 epidemic in the population.