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. 2021 Dec;10(1):1209-1216.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1938693.

The inference of HIV-1 transmission direction between a man who has sex with men and his heterosexual wife based on the sequences of HIV-1 quasi-species

Zehua Zhou  1 , Ping Ma  2 , Yi Feng  3 , Weidong Ou  3 , Min Wei  1   2 , Yiming Shao  1   3
Affiliations

The inference of HIV-1 transmission direction between a man who has sex with men and his heterosexual wife based on the sequences of HIV-1 quasi-species

Zehua Zhou et al. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Currently, homosexual transmission has become one of the main routes of HIV-1 spread in China. Furthermore, about 80% Chinese men, who have sex with men (MSM), feel forced to enter eventually into heterosexual marriages due to the Chinese traditional marriage culture, which may cause HIV-1 infection in families. In this study, we identified HIV-1 transmission in a family and the direction of HIV-1 transmission from a MSM to his wife and infant, which indicated Chinese MSM may have become a potential bridge of HIV-1 transmission to their wives and children. Therefore, we need to develop more effective defence measures to prevent the spread of HIV-1 in MSM families in China.

Keywords: HIV-1; MSM; marriage; single-genome sequencing; transmission relationship.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The Maximum-likelihood tree of gag, pol, env sequences of the couple and their kid. The kid, woman and man are marked black circle •, diamond ♦ and triangle ▴, respectively. (A) The Maximum-likelihood tree of gag; (B) The Maximum-likelihood tree of pol; (C) The Maximum-likelihood tree of env.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The analysis of full-length genome of patients through the phylogenetic tree and Simplot software. The kid, woman and man are marked black circle, diamond and triangle, respectively. (A) the Maximum-likelihood tree of full-length genome of the couple and their kid; (B) the breakpoint analysis of the couple and their kid.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The phylogenetic analysis of vif sequences obtained by Sanger sequencing and Single-genome amplification (SGA). The kid, woman and man are marked black circle, diamond and triangle, respectively. (A) The Maximum-likelihood tree of vif gene obtained by Sanger sequencing; (B) We obtained vif sequences from the man through SGA, and combined with the vif sequences of the woman and kid sequenced by Sanger sequencing to construct the Maximum-likelihood tree.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Maximum-likelihood trees of pol and env sequences of the couple and kid using BLAST-selected GenBank and local controls in A and B, respectively. The man, woman and kid are marked red circle, green triangle and yellow square, respectively. The black represents control sequences. (A) Maximum-likelihood tree of pol sequences; (B) Maximum-likelihood tree of env sequences.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The phylogenetic analysis of pol, env sequences obtained by SGA from the second whole blood sample of the man. The man is marked black triangle ▴. (A) The Maximum-likelihood tree of pol sequences; (B) The Maximum-likelihood tree of env sequence.
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