Phylogenetic analysis of the nef gene reveals a distinctive monophyletic clade in Korean HIV-1 cases

Many South Koreans infected with HIV may carry a unique strain of the virus which has not been identified elsewhere. Researchers analyzed HIV from 46 infected patients in South Korea. The viruses were of four distinct subtypes, but 35 patients were infected with a viral type of a unique genetic sequence. The variations were in the nef sequence, a genetic region which is less variable and may be related to disease progression and viral growth. HIV in South Korea may have developed from only a few initial sources or in ways unique to the Korean population.