RESEARCH ARTICLE The Combination of Phylogenetic Analysis with Epidemiological and Serological Data to Track HIV-1 Transmission in a Sexual Transmission Case

Objective To investigate the linkage of HIV transmission from a man to a woman through unprotected sexual contact without disclosing his HIV-positive status. Methods Combined with epidemiological information and serological tests, phylogenetic analysis was used to test the a priori hypothesis of HIV transmission from the man to the woman. Control subjects, infected with HIV through heterosexual intercourse, from the same loca-tion were also sampled. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the consensus gag, pol and env sequences obtained from blood samples of the man, the woman and the local control subjects. The env quasispecies of the man, the woman, and two controls were also obtained using single genome amplification and sequencing (SGA/S) to explore the para-phyletic relationship by phylogenetic analysis. Results Epidemiological information and serological tests indicated that the man was infected wit