Sequence Notes: Identification of Three Novel HIV-1 Recombinant Strains with Different Recombination Patterns in Hebei Province, China.

The global human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) pandemic is driven by the extraordinary genetic diversity of the virus, largely resulting from frequent recombination events. These events generate circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and unique recombinant forms, which significantly contribute to the complexity of HIV-1 epidemiology, especially within key populations, such as men who have sex with men (MSM). Here, we identified three novel HIV-1 recombinant strains consisting of the CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC subtypes from HIV-positive MSM in Baoding City, Hebei Province, China.

Characterization of Two Novel HIV-1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant Forms Among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Mother-to-Child Transmission Cases in Baoding City, China.

CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC are predominant circulating HIV-1 subtypes in China. In this study, we report two novel HIV-1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC recombinant forms isolated from one man who has sex with men (MSM) (BDD027) and one mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) case (BDL123) in Baoding City, Hebei Province, China. The recombination breakpoint analysis showed that the recombination pattern of the near-full-length genome of BDD027 consisted of two CRF07_BC fragments inserted into a CRF01_AE backbone, while the recombination pattern of the near-full-length genome of BDL123 consisted of one CRF01_AE fragment inserted into a CRF07_BC backbone.

Identification of a new HIV-1 circulating recombinant form (CRF159_01103) derived from CRF103_01B and CRF01_AE in Hebei Province, China.

Recombinant HIV-1 genomes identified in three or more epidemiological unrelated individuals are defined as circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). CRFs can further recombine with other pure subtypes or recombinants to produce secondary recombinants. In this study, a new HIV-1 intersubtype CRF, designated CRF159_01103, isolated from three men who have sex with men with no epidemiological linkage, was identified in Baoding city, Hebei Province, China.