
Full text loading...
Genomic heterogeneity and quasispecies composition of GB virus C (GBV-C) within plasma and lymphocyte subsets in a naturally infected blood donor were investigated. For this purpose, fragments from the 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) and the E2 gene recovered from plasma, B and T lymphocytes, were cloned and sequenced. A total of 63 clones was analysed: 95.2 % of them (n=60) – obtained from plasma and cells – were assigned to genotype 2b, while only three derived from plasma corresponded to genotyope 3. The G215A transition within this region was present in 90.9 % of the clones from B lymphocytes, but absent in the remaining cell compartments (P<0.01). Apparently, most of the circulating GBV-C quasispecies in this blood donor were related to the viral population infecting CD8+ T cells, and B cells to a lesser extent. This is the first report showing the quasispecies nature of GBV-C in lymphocyte subsets within peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Article metrics loading...
Full text loading...
References
Data & Media loading...
Supplements
Journal of General Virology vol. 91 , part 7, pp. 1687 - 1692
Supplementary Fig. S1. Phylogenetic tree generated by NJ constructed with GBV-C 5′ UTR sequences
Supplementary Fig. S2. Phylogenetic tree generated by NJ constructed with GBV-C E2 sequences
Supplementary Fig. S3. Alignment of E2 deduced amino acid sequences of clones isolated from plasma (PE), CD4 TL (CD4E), CD8 TL (CD8E) and BL (B) [Single PDF file](83 KB)