Fig. 2.

Phylogenetic tree of HBV preS2 region.

Phylogenetic tree based on the HBV S gene sequences shows that genotype E was the most frequent (red), followed by genotype A (blue), and that 4 recombinants were detected (green). Recombinant sequences were cut at the break point and analysed (Fig. S2). The sequences containing preS2Δ38–55 (dots) are spread amongst the tree. The clinical status of patients is indicated by the outer striped ring: light pink, chronic carriers; pink, liver cirrhosis; red, HCC. Numbers at branches correspond to bootstrap values higher than 80%. The scale represents the average number of substitutions per site.