Résumé
HIV-1 and HIV-2, the etiologic agents for AIDS in humans, are the results of cross-species transmissions of lentiviruses from non-human primates (Hahn et al., 2000). The closest simian relatives of HIV-1 are SIVcpz and SIVgor, from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in West central Africa (Gao et al., 1999; Sharp et al., 2005; Keele et al., 2006; Van Heuverswyn et al., 2006), and HIV-2 is derived from SIVsmm from sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in West Africa (Hirsch et al., 1989; Gao et al., 1992). SIVsmm has been transmitted to humans at least 8 times in West Africa, and similarly, HIV-1 group M, N and O are each the result of an independent cross-species transmission of SIVs from the SIVcpz/ SIVgor lineage.