Distinct sequence patterns characterize the V3 region of HIV type 1 gp120 from subtypes A and C

The known sequences of HIV-1 viruses have been categorized into subtypes based on the phylogenetic partitioning of their env and gag gene sequences. The env gene encodes the protein gp120, which contains five sequence-variable regions (V1 to V5), of which the V3 loop is of central importance to viral infectivity. The V3 loop consensus sequences of HIV-1 subtype A and C viruses are similar, and more similar to one another than the V3 consensus sequences of any other two HIV-1 subtypes. However, using a position-specific statistical comparison, we found that the V3 region of these two subtypes is statistically distinct (p = similar to 0.0). (The p-value calculated to the lowest limit of representation on the computer used to run the calculation. This lowest limit was 10(-16). Although theoretically a p-value cannot be equal to 0.0, the p-value for the comparisons in question can be intuitively considered to be extremely small, or similar to 0.0.)