Serological and structural comparison of immunodeficiency viruses from man, African green monkey, rhesus monkey and sooty mangabey.

We have studied the serological relationship among the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), and three simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV). SIVagm was isolated from African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), and compared with the previously described isolates of SIVmac from a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) and SIVsm from a sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys). With respect to the glycoproteins, the simian viruses represent a subgroup apparently different from HIV. To classify HIV and SIV isolates further, we compared tryptic peptide maps of the core polypeptides p 18 and p 24 of HIV-2, three HIV-1 and five SIV isolates. Each peptide map was distinguishable, and differences are most prominent between the HIV-1 group and the SIVmac/SIVsm group. HIV-2 is very similar to SIVmac and SIVsm. The three SIVagm isolates form a more heterogeneous group. The p24s of all SIVagms are more similar to the p24s of HIV-1, but with respect to p 18, one isolate is similar to HIV-1, while the two others are more related to SIVmac, SIVsm, and HIV-2.