Reconstituting the epidemic history of mono lineage of HIV-1 CRF01_AE in Guizhou province, Southern China

•Mono lineage of HIV-1 CRF01_AE (CRF01_AE-v) was prevalent in Guizhou province, Southern China.•CRF01_AE-v virus was introduced into Guizhou province from Guangxi province in early 2000s.•High prevalence of CRF01_AE in Guizhou province may bridge the epidemic to Central China.

Guizhou province, located between border provinces and Central province of China, plays a crucial role in the transmission of HIV-1, implying it is important to monitor the epidemic of HIV-1 in this region. Available HIV-1 infected patients' plasma (n = 78) were collected from Tongren city, Eastern Guizhou. Full-length gag, partial pol and env gene sequences were amplified and analyzed using phylogenetic, recombinant and Bayesian molecular clock approaches. Phylogenetic and recombinant analyses showed that CRF01_AE predominated among injecting drug users and heterosexuals in Tongren city with 85.9% proportion, it was followed by B′ (5.1%), CRF07_BC (3.8%), CRF08_BC (3.8%), and B (1.3%). Moreover, 98.5% of CRF01_AE strains belonged to the distinct lineage CRF01_AE-v previously found in Guangxi province. To infer the most probable origin of CRF01_AE-v in Guizhou province, we download all available full length of CRF01_AE gag, pol and env gene region sequences from China in Los Alamos HIV sequence database. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analyses revealed that the expanding CRF01_AE-v epidemic in Guizhou province was the result of local epidemic driven by multiple independent introductions of CRF01_AE-v strains from Guangxi province in early 2000s. High prevalence of CRF01_AE in Guizhou province may bridge the epidemic to Central China. It provides a new insight for the understanding of HIV-1 epidemic in Guizhou province and makes the evolutionary history of CRF01_AE in China more intact.