Alignment of the 5′NCR sequences from the subtype 1b strains that were incorrectly classified by Trugene HCV Genotyping Kit and/or INNO-LiPA HCV 1.0 relative to the consensus sequences of the correctly classified strains, including subtype 1a clade I, subtype 1a clade II and subtype 1b.

<p>Positions 107, 204 and 243, that differentiate subtypes 1a and 1b are in bold. The dotted squares represent the location of the INNO-LiPA HCV 1.0 oligonucleotide probes. The result given by each assay is shown on the right.</p

Ability of the different molecular methods tested in this study to correctly identify HCV subtypes 1a and 1b in a series of 500 patients infected by one or the other of these subtypes.

<p>Correct identification with the different techniques tested is shown for all samples, and for samples that could be amplified by PCR in the assay.</p>*<p>The correct HCV genotype 1 subtype was identified by means of direct sequence analysis of a portion of the NS5B gene followed by phylogenetic analysis, the reference method.</p>**<p>In one 1a case and two 1b cases, not enough serum volume was available for testing in the Abbott RealTi<i>m</i>e HCV Genotype II assay.</p

Phylogenetic tree plotted with NS5B sequences (nucleotide positions 8325-8610) from the 237 HCV subtype 1a and 263 HCV subtype 1b strains.

<p>HCV subtype 1a strains segregated into two distinct clades, termed 1a clade I and 1a clade II.</p