Epstein-Barr virus genotypes associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Southern China

Abstract

We have used probes presenting approximately two-thirds of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome to examine genetic polymorphism of wild-type EBV directly detected in 28 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues from Southern China. In the hypervariable regions containing reiterated sequences, this analysis showed that while naturally occurring viruses are genetically diverse, only one genotype was detectable in each tumor specimen. Unique variants in NPC were detected in four regions of the EBV genome. Two of these appeared significant in their distribution. The type C variant resulting from loss of a BamHI site between the BamHI W1* and l1* regions was prevalent among isolates from Southern China, but not so common in the United States. An 'f' variant having an extra BamHI site in the BamHI F region was almost exclusively detected in only Asian NPC biopsies.