Characterization of a New HIV-1 CRF01_AE/B Recombinant Virus Form Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Shanghai, China

To date, there are 16 types of CRF01_AE/B circulating recombinant forms identified, and most of them are distributed in Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Previous HIV molecular epidemiological surveys showed that CRF01_AE (27.6%) and B (9.6%) subtypes are predominant strains in mainland of China. At the same time, the HIV-1 virus spreads faster in the men who have sex with men (MSM) population than in other risk groups. In Shanghai district, ∼66.0% of newly reported cases were infected through homosexual transmission. In this study, we report a novel recombinant strain of CRF01_AE/B. The near full-length genome phylogenetic tree showed that the strain clustered with the CRF01_AE reference sequence and placed in the peripheral position within the branch of the CRF01_AE strain. Subregional evolutionary results indicated that the CRF01_AE subtype was derived from cluster 4 of CRF01_AE, which is mainly distributed in northern China. The subtype B was correlated with the U.S./Europe B, which are widely prevalent in the Chinese MSM population. In recent years, a large number of recombinant forms between CRF01_AE and B strains are continuously emerging in China. Therefore, understanding the current epidemic recombinant forms will have significant implications for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.