Transmission of a minor variant of transcriptionally active HIV-1

We investigated the genotypic variation of pro-viral human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA in a virus donor-recipient pair by comparing sequ ences from the HIV-1 V3 region of the gp120 gene and the p17(gag) gene. We found that the transmitted virus was a minor variant in the donor's virus p opulation in blood. Possible selection mechanisms within the host (neutrali zation by antibodies) were studied in order to investigate whether antibodi es could explain the conserved HIV genotype found in the recipient. In conc lusion, our data indicate that a minor variant of pro-viral transcriptional ly active HIV-1 found in PBMC was transmitted from donor to recipient, Deve lopment of a homogeneous genotype regarding the V3 region (V3d-Bl(1)) of pr o-viral DNA in the recipient's PBMC and a partially homogeneous genotype re garding the HIV-RNA was possibly caused by an envelope associated selection that is not dependent upon neutralizing antibodies.