Serial recombination during circulation of type 1 wild-vaccine recombinant polioviruses in China

Type 1 wild-vaccine recombinant polioviruses sharing a 367-nucleotide (nt) block of Sabin 1-derived sequence spanning the VP1 and 2A genes circulated widely in China from 1991 to 1993. We surveyed the sequence relationships among 34 wild-vaccine recombinants by comparing six genomic intervals: the conserved 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) (nt 186 to 639), the hypervariable portion of the 5'-UTR (nt 640 to 742), the VP4 and partial VP2 genes (nt 743 to 1176), the VP1 gene (nt 2480 to 3385), the 2A gene (nt 3386 to 3832), and the partial 3D gene (nt 6011 to 6544). The 5'-UTR, capsid (VP4-VP2 and VP1), and 2A sequence intervals had similar phylogenies. By contrast, the partial 3D sequences could be distributed into five divergent genetic classes. Most (25 of 34) of the wild-vaccine recombinant isolates showed no evidence of additional recombination beyond the initial wild-Sabin recombination event. Eight isolates from 1992 to 1993, however, appear to be derived from three independent additional recombination events, and one 1993 isolate was derived from two consecutive events. Complete genomic sequences of a representative isolate for each 3D sequence class demonstrated that these exchanges had occurred in the 2B, 2C, and 3D genes. The 3D gene sequences were not closely related to those of the Sabin strains or 53 diverse contemporary wild poliovirus isolates from China, but all were related to the 3D genes of species C enteroviruses. The appearance within approximately 2.5 years of five recombinant classes derived from a single ancestral infection illustrates the rapid emergence of new recombinants among circulating wild polioviruses.