Phylogenetic analysis of MLV sequences from longitudinally sampled
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients suggests PCR contamination rather
than viral evolution
Aris Katzourakis1, St=E9phane Hu=E92, Paul Kellam2,3, and Greg J. Towers1,*
1 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road,
Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
2 MRC Centre for Medical Molecular Virology, Division of Infection and
Immunity, University College London, 46 Cleveland St, London W1T 4JF,
UK
3 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
* corresponding
ABSTRACT
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (XMRV) has been amplified from human
prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patient samples.
Other studies failed to replicate these findings and suggested PCR
contamination with a prostate cancer cell line, 22Rv1, as a likely
source. MLV-like sequences have also been detected in CFS patients in
longitudinal samples 15 years apart. Here we test whether sequence
data from these samples are consistent with viral evolution. Our
phylogenetic analyses strongly reject a model of within-patient
evolution and demonstrate that the sequences from the first and second
time points represent distinct endogenous murine retroviruses
suggesting contamination.
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