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J Virol, May 1998, p. 4327-4340, Vol. 72, No. 5
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

African Origin of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 2 (HTLV-2) Supported by a Potential New HTLV-2d Subtype in Congolese Bambuti Efe Pygmies

Anne-Mieke Vandamme,1,* Marco Salemi,1 Marianne Van Brussel,1 Hsin-Fu Liu,1 Kristel Van Laethem,1 Marc Van Ranst,1 Ludovic Michels,2 Jan Desmyter,1 and Patrick Goubau1

Rega Institute for Medical Research and University Hospitals, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium,1 and Appin à la Communication Interculturelle et à l'Autopromotion Rurale, Nduye, Democratic Republic of Congo2

Received 9 October 1997/Accepted 2 February 1998

We identified a potential new subtype within human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2), HTLV-2d, present in members of an isolated Efe Bambuti Pygmy tribe. Two of 23 Efe Pygmies were HTLV-2 seropositive, with HTLV-2 Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reactivities. From one of them the entire genome of the HTLV-2 strain Efe2 could be amplified and sequenced. In all gene regions analyzed, this strain was the most divergent HTLV-2 strain, differing by 2.4% (tax/rex) to 10.7% (long terminal repeat) from both subtypes HTLV-2a and HTLV-2b, yet major functional elements are conserved. The similarity between the HTLV-2 Efe2 Gag and Env proteins and the corresponding HTLV-2a and -2b proteins is consistent with the observed serological reactivity. In the proximal pX region, one of the two alternative splice acceptor sites is abolished in HTLV-2 Efe2. Another interesting feature of this potential new subtype is that it has a Tax protein of 344 amino acids (aa), which is intermediate in length between the HTLV-2a Tax protein (331 aa) and the HTLV-2b and -2c Tax proteins (356 aa) and similar to the simian T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (STLV-2) PP1664 Tax protein. Together these two findings suggest a different phenotype for the HTLV-2 Efe2 strain. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed that the Pygmy Efe2 strain potentially belonged to a new and quite divergent subtype, HTLV-2d. When the STLV-2 bonobo viruses PP1664 and PanP were used as an outgroup, it was clear that the Pygmy HTLV-2 Efe2 strain had the longest independent evolution and that HTLV-2 evolution is consistent with an African origin.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Rega Institute for Medical Research, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Phone: 32-16-332160. Fax: 32-16-332131. E-mail: annemie.vandamme{at}uz.kuleuven.ac.be.

J Virol, May 1998, p. 4327-4340, Vol. 72, No. 5
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.