Typing of Urinary JC Virus DNA Offers a Novel Means of Tracing Human Migrations

Although polyomavirus JC (JCV) is the proven pathogen of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, the fatal demyelinating disease, this virus is ubiquitous as a usually harmless symbiote among human beings. JCV propagates in the adult kidney and excretes its progeny in urine, from which JCV DNA c...

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Published in:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 94; no. 17; pp. 9191 - 9196
Main Authors:	Sugimoto, Chie, Kitamura, Tadaichi, Guo, Jing, Al-Ahdal, Mohammed N., Shchelkunov, Sergei N., Otova, Berta, Ondrejka, Paul, Chollet, Jean-Yves, El-Safi, Sayda, Ettayebi, Mohamed, Gresenguet, Gerard, Kocagoz, Tanil, Chaiyarasamee, Sanong, Thant, Kyaw Zin, Thein, Soe, Moe, Kyaw, Kobayashi, Nobuyoshi, Taguchi, Fumiaki, Yogo, Yoshiaki
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19-08-1997 National Acad Sciences National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
Subjects:	Adult Biological Evolution Biological Sciences Biomarkers Body fluids Children Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA DNA, Viral - urine Emigration and Immigration Evolution Genetics, Population Geographic regions Human migration Human populations Humans JC Virus Migration Molecular Sequence Data Phylogenetics Research universities Urine Urology Viruses
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Summary:	Although polyomavirus JC (JCV) is the proven pathogen of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, the fatal demyelinating disease, this virus is ubiquitous as a usually harmless symbiote among human beings. JCV propagates in the adult kidney and excretes its progeny in urine, from which JCV DNA can readily be recovered. The main mode of transmission of JCV is from parents to children through long cohabitation. In this study, we collected a substantial number of urine samples from native inhabitants of 34 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. A 610-bp segment of JCV DNA was amplified from each urine sample, and its DNA sequence was determined. A worldwide phylogenetic tree subsequently constructed revealed the presence of nine subtypes including minor ones. Five subtypes (EU, Af2, B1, SC, and CY) occupied rather large territories that overlapped with each other at their boundaries. The entire Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia were the domain of EU, whereas the domain of Af2 included nearly all of Africa and southwestern Asia all the way to the northeastern edge of India. Partially overlapping domains in Asia were occupied by subtypes B1, SC, and CY. Of particular interest was the recovery of JCV subtypes in a pocket or pockets that were separated by great geographic distances from the main domains of those subtypes. Certain of these pockets can readily be explained by recent migrations of human populations carrying these subtypes. Overall, it appears that JCV genotyping promises to reveal previously unknown human migration routes: ancient as well as recent.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 Communicated by Susumu Ohno, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: yogo@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
ISSN:	0027-8424 1091-6490
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.94.17.9191