Genetic diversity of JC virus in the modern Filipino population: implications for the peopling of the Philippines

Abstract

The Philippines is generally believed to have been established by various peoples who migrated from neighboring areas. To gain new insights into the peopling of the Philippines, we used the JC virus (JCV) genotyping approach. We collected about 50 urine samples on each of two representative islands of the Philippines, Luzon and Cebu. DNA was extracted from the urine samples and used to amplify the 610-bp region (IG region) of the viral genome. For each island, we determined about 20 IG sequences, from which a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree was constructed to classify the JCV isolates detected into distinct genotypes. The predominant genotype detected was SC, the Southeast Asian genotype. Minor JCV genotypes were SC/Phi, B1-a, and B3. SC/Phi was a subcluster of SC and has not been detected in areas other than the Philippines. B1-a was detected previously in mainland China, Pamalican Island (Palawan, Philippines), and Taiwan (an aboriginal tribe). B3 was classified in this study into two subgroups, one (B3-a) containing three Luzon isolates and several Chinese, Thai, and Uzbek isolates, the other (B3-b) containing two Luzon, one Cebu, and one Indonesian isolate. These findings suggest that the modern Filipino population was formed not only by Southeast Asians carrying SC but also by a few distinct ethnic groups carrying SC/Phi, B1-a, and B3-a or -b.