Geographical distribution of the human polyomavirus JC virus types A and B and isolation of a new type from Ghana

• Published in: Journal of general virology 1996-05, Vol.77 (5), p.919-927
• Main Authors: Guo, Jing, Kitamura, Tadaichi, Ebihara, Hideki, Sugimoto, Chie, Kunitake, Tsuyoshi, Takehisa, Jun, Na, Yen Qun, Al-Ahdal, Mohammed N, Hallin, Anders, Kawabe, Kazuki, Taguchi, Fumiaki, Yogo, Yoshiaki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: JC virus
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/0022-1317-77-5-919

1 Department of Viral Infection, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, 2 Department of Urology, Branch Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112, 3 Department of Microbiology, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 228, 4 Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, 5 Institute of Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, Japan, 6 Department of Urology, The First Hospital, Beijing Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China, 7 Department of Biological and Medical Research, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia and 8 Department of Urology, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden The JC polyomavirus (JCV) is ubiquitous in humans, infecting children asymptomatically, then persisting in renal tissue. Since JCV DNA can be readily isolated from urine, it should be a useful tool with which to study the evolution of DNA viruses in humans. We showed that JCV DNA from the urine of Japanese, Taiwanese, Dutch and German patients can be classified into A and B types, based upon restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). This work was extended in the present study. We established multiple JCV DNA clones from the UK, Spain, Italy, Sweden, South Korea, People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, India, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Ghana. Using type-specific RFLPs, most clones except the four clones from Ghana were classified as either type A or B. We constructed a molecular phylogenetic tree for the Ghanaian clones and several representative type A and B clones. According to the phylogenetic tree, the Ghanaian clones constituted a major new group, tentatively named type C. From the findings presented here and elsewhere, the following conclusions were drawn: (i) type A is prevalent only in Europe; (ii) type B is found mainly in Asia and Africa; and (iii) type C is localized to part of Africa. Our findings should help to clarify how JCV evolved in humans. * Author for correspondence. Fax [phone]. e-mail [e-mail] Received 2 October 1995; accepted 14 December 1995.