Analysis on characteristics of the near full-length genome sequences of HIV-1 unique recombinant forms identified in Guangxi from 2012 to 2022

Object: To investigate the recombinant characteristics of HIⅤ-1 unique recombinant forms (URFs)identified in Guangxi from 2012 to 2022, so as to provide a scientific basis for HIⅤ-1 interventions in Guangxi.Methods: RNA isolation, nest-PCR and sequencing of near full-length genes were performed on the blood sam-ples of an HIⅤ-1 positive individual whose pol region gene sequence was identified as URF.The articles and near full-length sequence of URFs identified in Guangxi between 2012 and 2022 were retrieved from PubMed and oth-er databases to construct phylogenetic tree and perform recombination pattern, breakpoint analysis and drug resis-tance mutation site analysis.Results: One URF with a length of about 8.9 kb was obtained by sequencing and it was a second-generation recombinant form composed of CRF08_BC as skeleton inserted into CRF01_AE frag-ment.By jointly analyzing this URF and 12 Guangxi URFs retrieved from the database, it was found that the URFs in Guangxi were mainly from sexually transmitted infections and intravenous drug users.All URFs com-prised CRF01_AE fragment, and the recombinant proportion of 01_AE/07_BC was the highest (69.2%, 9/13).One URF contained major drug resistance sites.Conclusion: The number of identified URFs in Guangxi is rela-tively small, most of which are 01_AE/07_BC recombination.The monitoring and identification of URFs should be strengthened to fully understand the characteris-tics of HIⅤ-1 recombinant forms in Guangxi.