Identification of a Novel HIV Type 1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant Virus in Men Who Have Sex with Men in GuangXi, China.

This study reports a novel HIV-1 recombinant virus (GX2016EU10) isolated from a 24-year-old man, who was infected by homosexual sex in Guangxi, China. The near full-length genome analyses showed GX2016EU10 kept the CRF07_BC parental backbone with three CRF01_AE segments inserted into gag, pol, vpu, env, and nef genes, respectively. The recombinant breakpoints were completely different from the other CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC recombinant forms reported. GX2016EU10 was CCR5-tropic through GHOST cell identification. The emergence of GX2016EU10 indicates that the HIV-1 epidemic among men who have sex with men in Guangxi is increasing in complexity, which poses a serious challenge to prevention and control.