Chapter 8, Problem 3CAE

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is common in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, but is rare elsewhere except in AIDS patients. Genetic analyses indicate that the African strain is not changing, whereas the Western strain is accumulating changes. Using the portions of the HHV-8 genomes (shown below) that encode one of the viral proteins, how similar are these two viruses? What mechanism can account for the changes? What disease does HHV-8 cause?

Western	3′-ATGGAGTICTICTGGACAAGA
African	3′-ATAAACmCTIGACAACG