African Sooty Mangabeys Research Articles

Phylogeny and History of the Lost SIV from Crab-Eating Macaques: SIVmfa.

In the 20th century, thirteen distinct human immunodeficiency viruses emerged following independent cross-species transmission events involving simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) from African primates. In the late 1900s, pathogenic SIV strains also emerged in the United Sates among captive Asian macaque species following their unintentional infection with SIV from African sooty mangabeys (SIVsmm). Since their discovery in the 1980s, SIVs from rhesus macaques (SIVmac) and pig-tailed macaques (SIVmne) have become invaluable models for studying HIV pathogenesis, vaccine design and the emergence of viruses. SIV isolates from captive crab-eating macaques (SIVmfa) were initially described but lost prior to any detailed molecular and genetic characterization. In order to infer the origins of the lost SIVmfa lineage, we located archived material and colony records, recovered its genomic sequence by PCR, and assessed its phylogenetic relationship to other SIV strains. We conclude that SIVmfa is the product of two cross-species transmission events. The first was the established transmission of SIVsmm to rhesus macaques, which occurred at the California National Primate Research Center in the late 1960s and the virus later emerged as SIVmac. In a second event, SIVmac was transmitted to crab-eating macaques, likely at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates in the early 1970s, and it was later spread to the New England Primate Research Center colony in 1973 and eventually isolated in 1986. Our analysis suggests that SIVmac had already emerged by the early 1970s and had begun to diverge into distinct lineages. Furthermore, our findings suggest that pathogenic SIV strains may have been more widely distributed than previously appreciated, raising the possibility that additional isolates may await discovery.

Estimating of Origin and Evolutionary History of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 in Cuba

Background: Infection with human HIV-2 is endemic in West Africa. The virus originated from West African sooty mangabeys during the first half of the 20th century and an epidemic initiation in Guinea Bissau that coincides with the independence war (1963-1974). The HIV-2 group A is categorized as epidemic group. The presence of HIV-2 group A in Cuba has been previously documented. However, the evolutionary history of HIV-2 group A in the Cuban epidemic is unknown. The aim of this work is to estimate the origin and evolutionary history of the HIV-2 group A in Cuba. Methods: We used a Bayesian coalescent method to analyze the env gene of Cuban HIV-2 group A. The rate of nucleotide substitution was determined and was used to date the phylogenies and reveal the evolutionary history of HIV-2 group A in Cuba. Results: Multiple introductions of HIV-2 group A, mainly from Guinea Bissau and Portugal were detected. The most recent common ancestor of Cuban HIV-2 groups A was dated back to about 1972 (95 % HPD: 1966-1978). The rate of nucleotide substitutions was 5.02 x 10-3 substitutions per site per years (95 % HDP: 4.51-5.52 x 10-3). Conclusions: The results of this study allowed for the first time to estimate the evolutionary history of HIV-2 in Cuba and establish the basis for phylogeographic and phylodynamics studies.

SIV from stump-tailed macaques: Molecular characterization of a highly transmissible primate lentivirus

Over the past 6 years, simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) have been isolated from four distinct species of macaques ( Macaca mulatta, M. fascicularis, M. nemestrina, and M. arctoides) in captivity in the United States. However, the epidemiologic and genetic relationships among SIVs from the four species are not well understood. SIV from stump-tailed macaques ( M. arctoides) (SIVstm) is unusual in that it hasbeen associated with outbreaks of infection characterized by aggressive spread within stump-tailed macaque colonies at two separate primate centers in the United States. To characterize SIVstm at the molecular level, we have derived six biologically active viral DNA clones by polymerase chain reaction amplification of genomic DNA from infected cells. Nucleotide sequence analyses of one clone (SIVstm/37.16) showed that SIVstm was indeed a member of the previously defined group of simian lentiviruses that are closely related to the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2). However, our data indicate that SIVstm is equidistantly related to the other SIVs from macaques (SIVmac 251/142 and SIVmne) and SIV from African sooty mangabeys (SIVsmm). These findings suggest that SIV from captive macaques may have originated from several cross-species transmissions from imported sooty mangabeys and that additional spread has been fostered by the exchange of macaques among primate centers.

A highly divergent simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVstm) recovered from stored stump-tailed macaque tissues

We report here the results of molecular analysis of a simian immunodeficiency virus (designated SIVstm) which was isolated from a rhesus monkey inoculated with stored lymph node tissue of an Asian stump-tailed macaque. The latter monkey had died in 1977 during an epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency and lymphoma at the California Regional Primate Research Center (L. J. Lowenstine, N. W. Lerche, P. A. Marx, M. B. Gardner, and N. C. Pedersen, p. 174-176, in M. Girard and L. Valette, ed., Retroviruses of Human AIDS and Related Animal Viruses, 1988). Nucleotide sequence analysis of the gag and env regions indicates that SIVstm is an ancient member of the SIV/human immunodeficiency virus type 2 group; it is quite divergent from known SIVs isolated from African sooty mangabeys as well as from Asian macaques. Furthermore, of all SIV strains described to date, SIVstm is the most closely related to human immunodeficiency virus type 2.