Identification of a Novel CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant Form in Men Who Have Sex with Men in Sichuan, China.

A novel second-generation CCR5-tropic HIV-1 recombinant virus (XC2014EU09) was identified here, which was isolated from a HIV-positive man who had sex with men (MSM) in Sichuan, China. Phylogenic analyses showed that XC2014EU09 was composed of two well-established circulating recombinant forms (CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC). Different from the other four reported CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC recombinant forms, three recombinant breakpoints of XC2014EU09 with four fragments were observed in the vpr, env, and nef genes, respectively, as follows: I-CRF01_AE (636-5,843 nt), IICRF07_BC (5,844-8,393 nt), IIICRF01_AE (8,394-9,119 nt), and IVCRF07_BC (9,120-9,600 nt). The emergence of CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC recombinant strain indicates the increasing complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic among the MSM group in China.