Contribution of HIV-1 genomes that do not integrate to the basic reproductive ratio of the virus.

Recent experimental data indicate that HIV-1 DNA that fails to integrate (from now on called uDNA) can by itself successfully produce infectious offspring virions in resting T cells that become activated after infection. This scenario is likely important at the initial stages of the infection. We use mathematical models to calculate the relative contribution of unintegrated and integrated viral DNA to the basic reproductive ratio of the virus, R0, and the models are parameterized with preliminary data.