Genotype of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus by molecular evolutionary analysis

GB virus C/hepatitis G virus is a newly described virus. Classification of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus into genotypes has not been established. We analyzed nucleotide sequences within the 5′ untranslated region of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus isolates and segregated these isolates into genotypes. Twenty serum samples with GB virus C/hepatitis G virus RNA from Australia, Cameroon, the Congo, Japan, Mongolia, and Bangladesh were studied. Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction were used to obtain GB virus C/hepatitis G virus RNA. After nucleotide sequences from the 5′ untranslated region were determined, 68 nucleotide sequences, including 48 previously reported sequences, were analyzed by molecular evolutionary methods. The phylogenetic tree of the 5′ untranslated region showed that all strains could be divided into three major genotypes, GB type (type 1), HG type (type 2), and Asian type (type 3). Bootstrap analysis indicated that the strains could be divided into three major genotypes but could not be further subdivided. Moreover, frequency histograms of pairwise distances between nucleotide sequences demonstrated only one peak. These result indicated that GB virus C/hepatitis G virus can be classified into three major genotypes, GB type (type 1), HG type (type 2), and Asian type (type 3), and should not be divided into minor subtypes.