Identification of a novel HIV-1 intra-circulating recombinant form 01_AE in China： a descendant of the previously identified CRF01 AE transmission clusters I and 6

Dear Editors, Here, we report a novel HIV-1 intra-circulating recombinant form 01_AE （intra-CRF01_AE： CRF01-1AE/CRF01-6AE） composed of CRF01_AE transmission clusters 1 and 6, which was identified in a heterosexual male from Fujian, with one breakpoint observed in the vif gene. The CRF01_AE region I （HXB2： 868-5184） of the recombinant clustered with CRF01_AE transmission cluster 1, which is mainly circulating among injection drug users （IDUs） and heterosexuals in southern and southwestern China, with the support of a 100% bootstrap value. The CRF01_AE region II （HXB2： 5185-9605） of the recombinant clustered with CRF01_AE transmission cluster 6, which mainly prevails among heterosexuals in southern China, with the support of a 100% bootstrap value. To our knowledge, this is the first detection of a novel HIV-1 intra-CRF01_AE recombinant form （CRF01-1_AE/CRF01-6_ AE） in Fujian, China, which indicates ongoing active HIV-1 transmission among heter- osexuals in this region.