Genetic and phylogenetic analysis of HIV type 1 env subtypes in Ghana, West Africa

The authors examined HIV-1 genetic variation among 19 HIV-1-infected people of mean age 34.5 years living in Accra, Akwatia, Kumasi, and Ho, in Ghana. One person was of unknown origin. Blood samples were collected between December 1993 and January 1996. 16 of the HIV-1 specimens clustered with members of subtype A, but the clustering was not supported by 70% or more of the bootstrap tests. Two samples clustered with subtype D strains, supported by 92.5% of the bootstrap trees, and one sample clustered with subtype G strains, supported by 96.2% of the bootstrap trees. For the Ghanaian specimens belonging to subtype A, interhost distances at the nucleotide level averaged 14.9%, of range 7.83-20.9%. The interhost distance between the two subtype D samples was 8.2%. A cocirculation of subtypes A, D, and G was identified in Akwatia.