Identification of human papillomavirus type 53 L1, E6 and E7 variants in isolates from Brazilian women

► HPV 53 isolates from 15 Brazilian women were analyzed to detect genomic variants. ► L1, E6 and E7 genomic fragments were sequenced to identify nucleotide changes. ► HPV 53 genetic polymorphism was characterized based on L1 sequences. ► One co-infected L1 and two new E6 variants were found. ► None of the HPV 53 isolates corresponded to the reference type.