Brief Communications
Nature 410, 1047-1048 (26 April 2001) | doi:10.1038/35074179
Human immunodeficiency virus: Phylogeny and the origin of HIV-1
Andrew Rambaut1, David L. Robertson1, Oliver G. Pybus1, Martine Peeters2 and Edward C. Holmes1
The origin of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is controversial. We show here that viruses obtained from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa have a quantitatively different phylogenetic tree structure from those sampled in other parts of the world. This indicates that the structure of HIV-1 phylogenies is the result of epidemiological processes acting within human populations alone, and is not due to multiple cross-species transmission initiated by oral polio vaccination.
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
- Laboratoire Retrovirus, IRD, BP 5045, 34032 Montpellier Cedex1, France
Correspondence to: Edward C. Holmes1 e-mail: Email: edward.holmes@zoo.ox.ac.uk