Cañada-Garcia, Javier EnriqueDelgado, ElenaGil, HoracioSanchez-Martinez, MonicaBenito, SoniaGarcia-Bodas, ElenaGómez-González, CarmenCanut-Blasco, AndrésPortu-Zapirain, JosebaSáez de Adana, EsterDe la Peña, MireiaIbarra, SofíaCilla, GustavoIribarren, José AntonioMartínez-Sapiña, AnaThomson, Michael M2021-02-262021-02-262021-01-12Viruses. 2021 Jan 12;13(1):93.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/12025The extraordinary genetic variability of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) group M has led to the identification of 10 subtypes, 102 circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and numerous unique recombinant forms. Among CRFs, 11 derived from subtypes B and C have been identified in China, Brazil, and Italy. Here we identify a new HIV-1 CRF_BC in Northern Spain. Originally, a phylogenetic cluster of 15 viruses of subtype C in protease-reverse transcriptase was identified in an HIV-1 molecular surveillance study in Spain, most of them from individuals from the Basque Country and heterosexually transmitted. Analyses of near full-length genome sequences from six viruses from three cities revealed that they were BC recombinant with coincident mosaic structures different from known CRFs. This allowed the definition of a new HIV-1 CRF designated CRF108_BC, whose genome is predominantly of subtype C, with four short subtype B fragments. Phylogenetic analyses with database sequences supported a Brazilian ancestry of the parental subtype C strain. Coalescent Bayesian analyses estimated the most recent common ancestor of CRF108_BC in the city of Vitoria, Basque Country, around 2000. CRF108_BC is the first CRF_BC identified in Spain and the second in Europe, after CRF60_BC, both phylogenetically related to Brazilian subtype C strains.engVoRHIV-1HIV-1 genetic diversityHIV-1 molecular epidemiologyHIV-1 phylogenyCirculating recombinant form.Atribución 4.0 Internacional3344552313110.3390/v130100931999-4915Virusesopen access