LAUSR

Abstract Objective To show how to generate a consensus sequence from the information of massive parallel sequences data obtained from routine HIV anti-retroviral resistance studies, and that may be suitable for molecular epidemiology studies. Material and methods Paired Sanger (Trugene-Siemens) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) (454 GSJunior-Roche) HIV RT and protease sequences from 62 patients were studied. NGS consensus sequences were generated using Mesquite, using 10%, 15%, and 20% thresholds. Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis (MEGA) was used for phylogenetic studies. Results At a 10% threshold, NGS-Sanger sequences from 17/62 patients were phylogenetically related, with a median bootstrap-value of 88% (IQR 83.5–95.5). Association increased to 36/62 sequences, median bootstrap 94% (IQR 85.5–98), using a 15% threshold. Maximum association was at the 20% threshold, with 61/62 sequences associated, and a median bootstrap value of 99% (IQR 98–100). Conclusion A safe method is presented to generate consensus sequences from HIV-NGS data at 20% threshold, which will prove useful for molecular epidemiological studies.