In section A, five papers are presented which examine the evolution of HIV-1 both within and between patients. The first paper presented examines the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 within Scotland, Northern England, and Ireland (paper I), with attention focused on identifying risk group associated differences within the cohort. This work also provides important background information for the interpretation of molecular data from transmission clusters. The main focus of the work on HIV-1 evolution has been on the transmission of HIV-1, with particular emphasis placed on mother-child transmission. Four papers are presented which examine evolutionary aspects of HIV-1 transmission. The first of these (paper II) examines the viral variants transmitted from mother to child in four mother-child transmission pairs. The second (paper III) analyses similar data from five mother-child transmission pairs, focusing predominantly on viral evolution within the child over the first year of life. The final two papers investigating HIV-1 transmission examine viral variation within two transmission sets. Paper IV examines the vertical transmission of HIV-1 to two infected children born to the same mother at an approximately two year interval, while paper V examines the heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 from a male index to two female contacts and the subsequent vertical transmission of HIV-1 to their two children. The phylogenetic placement of these transmission sets within the Edinburgh cohort is also assessed. In section B, four papers are presented which examine aspects of foraminiferal evolution. The first paper (paper I) focuses on the problems inherent in the amplification of foraminiferal DNA due to the association of large numbers of symbionts, commensals and food particles with each foraminifer. The amplification of foraminiferal sequences for the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene is then described, and the phylogenetic placement of the foraminifera within eukaryote evolution examined (papers II and III). Finally, the phylogenetic relationships within the foraminifera are described (paper V).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:663322 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Wade, Christopher Mark |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/14622 |
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