Letter

An African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic

  • Nature 391, 594–597 (05 February 1998)
  • doi:10.1038/35400
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Abstract

There is considerable genetic diversity among viruses of different subtypes (designated A to J) in the major group of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the form of HIV that is dominant in the global epidemic1,2,3. If available, HIV-1 sequences pre-dating the recognition of AIDS could be crucial in defining the time of origin and the subsequent evolution of these viruses in humans. The oldest known case of HIV-1 infection was reported to be that of a sailor from Manchester who died of an AIDS-like illness in 1959 (4,​5,​6); however, the authenticity of this case has not been confirmed7,8. Genetic analysis of sequences from clinical materials obtained from 1971 to 1976 from members of a Norwegian family infected earlier than 1971 showed that they carried viruses of the HIV-1 outlier group9,10, a variant form that is mainly restricted to West Africa1. Here we report the amplification and characterization of viral sequences from a 1959 African plasma sample that was previously found to be HIV-1 seropositive11. Multiple phylogenetic analyses not only authenticate this case as the oldest known HIV-1 infection, but also place its viral sequence near the ancestral node of subtypes B and D in the major group, indicating that these HIV-1 subtypes, and perhaps all major-group viruses, may have evolved from a single introduction into the African population not long before 1959.

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          Acknowledgements

          We thank J. Felsenstein for an early release of PHYLIP 3.6 and for helpful suggestions, T. Leitner for advice, and G. Olsen for providing DNA rates and a preprint describing a method for estimating the relative rates of variation at each site. This study was supported by grants from the NIH, the Magic Johnson Foundation and the Irene Diamond Fund, and by donations from D. Pels, A.Gund and V. D. Adler.

          Author information

            • Tuofu Zhu

            Present address: University of Washington, Health Sciences Building, Room T239X, 1959 NE Pacific Avenue, Seattle, Washington DC 98195, USA.

          Affiliations

          1. *Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University, 455 First Avenue, New York, New York 10016, USA

            • Tuofu Zhu
            •  & David D. Ho

          2. ‡Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

            • Bette T. Korber

          3. §The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA

            • Bette T. Korber

          4. ‖Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA

            • Andre J. Nahmias

          5. ¶PO Box 4087, Worthing BN14 7LQ, UK

            • Edward Hooper

          6. #Department of Genetics, University of Nottingham, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK

            • Paul M. Sharp

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          Corresponding author

          Correspondence to David D. Ho.

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