Transmission and genetic shift of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vivo.

HIVYU-6 and HIVYU-7 were isolated from an acquired immune deficiency syndrome patient (MK) and his asymptomatic sexual partner (MM), respectively. YU-6 readily infected not only peripheral lymphocytes from normal individuals but also human T-cell lines such as H9, HUT-78, MOLT-4 and MT-4; YU-7, on the other hand, could not infect H9 and MT-4 cells. Furthermore, although autologous serum failed to neutralize YU-6, it was neutralized by the heterologous serum from the partner. Restriction endonuclease analysis of YU-6 demonstrated that it was a mixture of viruses. We have isolated two clones from YU-6 (YU-6-a and YU-6-b) by a plaque assay method and showed that YU-6-a had one more KpnI site than YU-6-b. It was also evident that YU-7 derived from YU-6-a, but had already shifted genetically from YU-6-a. Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus through heterosexual contact and a possible genetic shift of YU-6-a, b and YU-7 from a common progenitor virus in vivo is discussed.