Analysis of hepatitis C virus sequence quasi species by NGS

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Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) genome accumulates nucleotide substitutions because of low viral RNA polymerase fidelity and high viral replication ratio. This quasispecies nature has been considered to contribute for its pathogenesis or viral escape. We constructed a method to determine the full-length viral genome RNA species from patient serum combined next-generation sequencing and capillary sequencing. We found independent dominant species co-existed in one patient serum. Polymorphisms related to the favorable response of interferon sensitivity were gathered into one species. Sequential species were formed same clusters. We thus considered that both species might have been mixture and survived the bottleneck events when the patient was infected, and then evolved individually in the patient. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that considering each full-length species in patient serum is important for understanding HCV life cycle.