The complete genomic sequence of hepatitis delta virus genotype IIb prevalent in Okinawa, Japan.

The Miyako Islands, located in the southernmost part of Japan, have been reported to be endemic for hepatitis delta virus (HDV). The majority of HDV patients in this area exhibit a relatively mild course of infection that evolves into a quiescent cirrhotic condition. The entire nucleotide sequence of the Miyako isolate (L215) of HDV obtained from a cirrhotic patient infected with HDV was determined. This isolate, L215, comprises 1682 nt and encodes 213 aa of the hepatitis delta antigen. Phylogenetic analysis showed that L215 is closely related to the Taiwanese genotype IIb HDV isolate. In addition, the predicted folding structure of the antigenomic RNA substrate was different from those of the published genotype II sequences.