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Transmitted human immunodeficiency virus drug resistance in Europe is stable at around 8%. The impact of baseline mutation patterns on susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs should be addressed using clinical guidelines. The impact on baseline susceptibility is largest for nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

BackgroundUnderstanding HIV-1 subtype distribution and epidemiology can assist preventive measures and clinical decisions. Sequence variation may affect antiviral drug resistance development, disease progression, evolutionary rates and transmission routes.ResultsWe investigated the subtype distribution of HIV-1 in Europe and Israel in a representative sample of patients diagnosed between 2002 and 2005 and related it to the demographic data available. 2793 PRO-RT sequences were subtyped either with the REGA Subtyping tool or by a manual procedure that included phylogenetic tree and recombination analysis. The most prevalent subtypes/CRFs in our dataset were subtype B (66.1%), followed by sub-subtype A1 (6.9%), subtype C (6.8%) and CRF02_AG (4.7%). Substantial differences in the proportion of new diagnoses with distinct subtypes were found between European countries: the lowest proportion of subtype B was found in Israel (27.9%) and Portugal (39.2%), while the highest was observed in Poland (96.2%) and Slovenia (93.6%). Other subtypes were significantly more diagnosed in immigrant populations. Subtype B was significantly more diagnosed in men than in women and in MSM > IDUs > heterosexuals. Furthermore, the subtype distribution according to continent of origin of the patients suggests they acquired their infection there or in Europe from compatriots.ConclusionsThe association of subtype with demographic parameters suggests highly compartmentalized epidemics, determined by social and behavioural characteristics of the patients.

We studied genetic variability of 100 isolates of Claviceps purpurea by using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), an EcoRI restriction site polymorphism in the 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), the alkaloids produced, and conidial morphology. We identified three groups: (i) group G1 from fields and open meadows (57 isolates), (ii) group G2 from shady or wet habitats (41 isolates), and (iii) group G3 from Spartina anglica from salt marshes (2 isolates). The sclerotia of G1 isolates contained ergotamines and ergotoxines; G2 isolates produced ergosine and ergocristine along with small amounts of ergocryptine; and G3 isolates produced ergocristine and ergocryptine. The conidia of G1 isolates were 5 to 8 m long, the conidia of G2 isolates were 7 to 10 m long, and the conidia of G3 isolates were 10 to 12 m long. Sclerotia of the G2 and G3 isolates floated on water. In the 5.8S rDNA analysis, an EcoRI site was found in G1 and G3 isolates but not in G2 isolates. The host preferences of the groups were not absolute, and there were host genera that were common to both G1 and G2; the presence of members of different groups in the same locality was rare. Without the use of RAPD or rDNA polymorphism, it was not possible to distinguish the three groups solely on the basis of phenotype, host, or habitat. In general, populations of C. purpurea are not host specialized, as previously assumed, but they are habitat specialized, and collecting strategies and toxin risk assessments should be changed to reflect this paradigm shift.Claviceps purpurea is an ergot fungus with a wide host range that includes the entire subfamily Pooideae, many members of the Arundinoideae, and some species belonging to the chloridoid and panicoid groups (4, 15). Its distribution is basically Holarctic, but it has been recorded in Arctic regions (14) and also occurs in southern temperate and subtropical regions. Due to movement with cereal and grass seeds by migrants, the center of origin of this species is not known.C. purpurea is morphologically quite variable. Sclerotial length ranges from 2 to 50 mm, and the color of the stromata varies over a wide range of red shades from wine to purple (25) and even to orange (31). Conidial size and shape also are polymorphic; the conidia range from oval spores that are 5 m long to cylindric or elongated spores that are up to 13 m long (15,25,31). The sclerotia contain peptide alkaloids that belong to three basic groups, the ergotamines (with alanine as the first amino acid entering the cyclopeptide moiety), the ergotoxines (with valine), and the rarely found ergoxines (with 2-aminoisobutyric acid) (for reviews see references 7 and 33).For the last 100 years, researchers have tried to use this variation to establish varieties, special forms, or races (1), and the primary focus has been on detection of host-specific groups. Stäger introduced four special forms: secalis, lolii (later joined with secalis) (2), milii (on Milium and Brachypodium only), and glyceriae (suspected to be Claviceps wilsonii) for C. purpurea se...