Genetic analysis of wild-type hepatitis A virus strains

• Published in: Chinese medical journal Vol. 114; no. 4; pp. 422 - 423
• Main Authors: Chen, Y, Mao, J, Hong, Y, Yang, L, Ling, Z, Yu, W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China 浙江省医学科学院杭 州 310013 01.04.2001
• Subjects: Genotype; Hepatitis A virus - classification; Hepatitis A virus - genetics; Humans; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; 基因区; genetic analysis; geographical region甲型肝炎病毒野毒株基因分型的研究陈勇 毛江森 洪艳 杨连华 凌志强 俞为群; 基因分型; 甲型肝炎病毒; hepatitis A virus
• ISSN: 0366-6999

To clarify the distribution of hepatitis A virus (HAV) genotype in geographical regions of China. Seventeen representative HAV strains were isolated from the stool or serum of hepatitis A patients in different geographical regions. Viral RNA was recovered from stool or serum by proteinase K digestion and phenol-chloroform extraction, followed by ethanol precipitation prior to reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification. The nucleotide sequences of VP1/2A junction region were tested by using a direct sequencing technique. A pairwise comparison of sequences within 168 bases at the VP1/2A junction revealed that all the sequences clustered within genotype I. About 53% of strains clustered in genotype I B, with less than 6% variability; while the others clustered in genotype I A, with less than 5.3% variability. Sequence homology between genotype I A and I B varied from 88.7% to 92.3%. Epidemic or sporadic HAV strains in China may belong to HAV genotype I A or I B. Epidemiologically related strains may be identical or closely related in sequence.