Ultra-Deep Pyrosequencing Detects Conserved Genomic Sites and Quantifies Linkage of Drug-Resistant Amino Acid Changes in the Hepatitis B Virus Genome

Abstract

UDPS methodology enabled quantification of HBV quasispecies variants, even those harboring complex combinations of amino acid changes. The high percentage of potentially defective genomes, especially in the surface region, suggests effective trans-complementation of these variants.