Since the ignition of the HIV-1 group M pandemic in the beginning of the 20th century, group M lineages have spread heterogeneously throughout the world. Subtype C spread rapidly through sub-Saharan Africa and is currently the dominant HIV lineage worldwide. Yet the epidemiological and evolutionary circumstances that contributed to its epidemiological expansion remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse 346 novel pol sequences from the DRC to compare the evolutionary dynamics of the main HIV-1 lineages, subtypes A1, C and D. Our results place the origins of subtype C in the 1950s in Mbuji-Mayi, the mining city of southern DRC, while subtypes A1 and D emerged in the capital city of Kinshasa, and subtypes H and J in the less accessible port city of Matadi. Following a 15-year period of local transmission in southern DRC, we find that subtype C spread at least three-fold faster than other subtypes circulating in Central and East Africa. In conclusion, our results shed light on the origins of HIV-1 main lineages and suggest that socio-historical rather than evolutionary factors may have determined the epidemiological fate of subtype C in sub-Saharan Africa.

中文翻译：

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中非和东非主要HIV-1亚型的不同传播率和传播方式。

自20世纪初引发HIV-1 M组大流行以来，M组谱系已经在世界范围内异质扩散。C亚型在整个撒哈拉以南非洲地区迅速传播，目前已成为全球主要的HIV血统。然而，对其流行病学扩展做出贡献的流行病学和进化情况仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们分析了来自刚果民主共和国的346个新的pol序列，以比较主要HIV-1谱系，亚型A1，C和D的进化动力学。我们的结果将1950年代C型亚型的起源放在了矿业城市姆布吉-马伊（Mbuji-Mayi）。在首都金沙萨出现了A1和D型，在交通不便的港口城市Matadi中出现了H和J型。在刚果民主共和国南部进行了15年的局部传播之后，我们发现，C型亚型的传播速度至少是中非和东非其他亚型传播的三倍。总之，我们的结果阐明了HIV-1主要谱系的起源，并表明社会历史而非进化因素可能已决定了撒哈拉以南非洲C型亚型的流行病学命运。