Genetic stability of Long Terminal Repeat )LTR) Promoter Function in Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV1)

Abstract

The Long Terminal Repeat (LTR) of the proviral human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) genome is integral to virus transcription and host cell infection. We characterized the genetic variation in HIV-1 LTR from 26 isolates in order to describe the transcriptional factor motifs present in these isolates, and genetic stability of this part of the viral genome. These isolates were taken from nine different countries. The alignments produced by ClustalW shows two types of nucleotide changes, the first is a simple replacement of one nucleotide by another (substitution). The second type of nucleotide changes is a deletion of the nucleotides. Examination of the aligned LTR sequences shows that the TATA box (TATAA) and the poly A site (AATAAA) in the part R of LTR were highly conserved in all cases, but sporadic changes might affect the AP1, AP4 and AML sites thought to be involved in expression of the HIV virus.