Near full-length genome analysis of HIV type 1 CRF02.AG subtype C and CRF02.AG subtype G recombinants

HIV-1 CRF02.AG strains are prevalent in west and west-central Africa, sugge sting a longstanding presence of these subtype A/G recombinants in the glob al epidemic, Cocirculation of CRF02.AG strains with other group M subtypes may give rise to HIV-1 recombinants constituting a mosaic genome comprising fragments of three different subtypes, We report on the genetic analysis o f the near-full-length genomes of such recombinants (VI1035 and VI1197) as well as CRF02.AG strains in Belgian individuals. VI1035 and VI1197 may be t he result of successful "second-generation'' recombinations of HIV-1 strain s CRF02.AG with, respectively, subtype C (VI1035) and G (VI1197) strains in a dually infected individual.