Jt. Blackard et al., Transmission of human immunodeficiency type 1 viruses with intersubtype recombinant long terminal repeat sequences, VIROLOGY, 254(2), 1999, pp. 220-225
Retroviruses such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) contain tw
o RNA strands per virion, and recombination can occur frequently during rev
erse transcription. Recombination may occur between HIV-1 genomes of the sa
me subtype or among genomes of two or more distinct subtypes present in an
individual. In the current study, we found that recombinatorial events were
not limited to viral structural genes such as gag and env, but rather, rec
ombination could likewise occur within the 5' long terminal repeat (LTR). I
ntersubtype recombinant LTRs among HIV-1 subtypes A, C, and D were found in
Tanzanian infants. By introducing novel LTR sequences, these recombinant L
TR viruses may further increase the adaptive potential and fitness of HIV-1
. (C) 1999 Academic Press.