[Subtype and sequence analysis of the C2-V3 region of gp120 genes among HIV-1 strains in Hubei province].

Twenty DNA fragments of HIV-1 env gene were amplified by PCR from uncultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from HIV-1 sero-positive people from Hubei province in the end of 1996. The C2-V3 region (about 450 bp) was sequenced. Sequence analyses showed that all of them were HIV-1 subtypes, B strain, with 1.9% gene divergence innergroup. The 20 subtype B strains, compared with sequences of several reference HIV-1 strains, were closely related to those found in Thailand, Myanma and Yunnan and other provinces in China. The nucleotide sequence divergence between them ranged from 1.9% to 3.2%. These results suggested that recent epidemic of B subtype HIV-1 strains in Hubei province and the responsible virus were very close to those identified in Yunnan province.