GB virus C quasispecies detected in plasma and lymphocyte subsets in a human natural infection.

VANESA RUIZ,; MIRTA GIORDANO,; CINTIA RIVERO,; MARIA MINASSIAN,; MARIA CUESTAS,; JULIETA TRINKS,; VERONICA MATHET,; JOSE OUBINA

JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY

SOC GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY

Año: 2010

0022-1317

Genomic heterogeneity and quasispecies composition of GB virus C (GBV-C) within plasma and lymphocyte subsets in a naturally infected blood donor was investigated. For this purpose, fragments from the 5´ untranslated region (5´UTR) and E2 gene recovered from plasma, B and T lymphocytes, were cloned and sequenced. A total of 63 clones was analysed: 95.2% of them (n=60) -obtained from plasma and cells- were assigned to genotype 2b, while only 3 derived from plasma corresponded to genotyope 3. The G215A transition within this region was present in 90.9% of clones from B lymphocytes but absent in the remaining cell compartments (p < 0.01). Apparently, most of the circulating GBV-C quasispecies in this blood donor were related to the viral population infecting CD8+ T cells, and B cells to a lesser extent. This is the first report showing the quasispecies nature of GBV-C in lymphocyte subsets within peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).