University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Phylogenetic analysis consistent with a clinical history of sexual transmission of HIV-1 from a single donor reveals transmission of highly distinct variants

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 16:34 authored by Suzanne English, Aris Katzourakis, David Bonsall, Peter Flanagan, Anna Duda, Sarah Fidler, Jonathan Weber, Myra McClure, The SPARTAC Trial Investigators, Rodney Phillips, John Frater, Martin Fisher
BACKGROUND To combat the pandemic of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), a successful vaccine will need to cope with the variability of transmissible viruses. Human hosts infected with HIV-1 potentially harbour many viral variants but very little is known about viruses that are likely to be transmitted, or even if there are viral characteristics that predict enhanced transmission in vivo. We show for the first time that genetic divergence consistent with a single transmission event in vivo can represent several years of pre-transmission evolution. RESULTS We describe a highly unusual case consistent with a single donor transmitting highly related but distinct HIV-1 variants to two individuals on the same evening. We confirm that the clustering of viral genetic sequences, present within each recipient, is consistent with the history of a single donor across the viral env, gag and pol genes by maximum likelihood and bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo based phylogenetic analyses. Based on an uncorrelated, lognormal relaxed clock of env gene evolution calibrated with other datasets, the time since the most recent common ancestor is estimated as 2.86 years prior to transmission (95% confidence interval 1.28 to 4.54 years). CONCLUSION Our results show that an effective design for a preventative vaccine will need to anticipate extensive HIV-1 diversity within an individual donor as well as diversity at the population level.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Retrovirology

ISSN

1742-4690

Publisher

BioMed Central Ltd

Volume

8

Page range

54

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Publications

Notes

Martin Fisher is not a named author on the this article but is a member of The SPARTAC Trial Investigators.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-02-11

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC