DNA-SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE GENE ENCODING THE HTLV-1 P21E TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEIN REVEALS INTERISOLATE AND INTRAISOLATE GENETIC-HETEROGENEITY

DNA sequence analysis was performed on a 235-bp region of the p21e transmembrane protein gene of the human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) which encompasses the putative immunosuppressive peptide. Polymerase chain reaction-based amplification was used to generate multiple molecular clones from isolates derived from fresh or cultured cells from 19 individuals. A dendrogram was constructed using the p21 e DNA sequence information to compare the sequences among isolates in the current study and other previously published HTLV-I isolates including strains from Africa and Papua New Guinea. Examination of multiple clones from individual isolates revealed the presence of multiple genotypes in patients with tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. These findings suggest that HTLV-I, like HIV, may be present as a quasispecies in vivo. Our studies, however, failed to identify specific sequence motifs that segregated exclusively with the lymphoproliferative or neurological forms of the disease. © 1992.