Objective: To understand the rule of vpr gene variance of HIV-1 strains.
Methods: RT-PCR was used to amplify vpr gene of HIV-1 strains in Shenzhen. PCR products were sequenced and used for gene phylogenetic analysis and the 32 - 46 amino acids of Vpr protein were compared. The difference of 77 amino acid polymorphism distribution between domestic region and foreign region was analyzed.
Results: 01_AE was the major HIV-1 subtype in Shenzhen. The gene distance among subtype B was larger than in other subtypes. 77-amino acid of Vpr protein had three polymorphism forms as Arginin, Glutamine and Histidine, with Glutamine as the wild form. There were no significant differences in the three amino acid distributions between HIV-1 strains from domestic region and foreign region.
Conclusion: vpr genes of different HIV-1 strains belonged to 01_AE subtype. There was polymorphism seen in the vpr gene which was consistent with both domestic and international HIV-1 strains.