BRAINCAKERNA Retroviruses
Retroviruses are a special group of RNA viruses. Their genome is RNA, but inside the host cell it is copied into DNA. This reverses the usual flow of genetic information (DNA → RNA → protein), which is why they are called retroviruses, from the Latin for backwards.
The best-known retrovirus is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Another example is human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV).
A retrovirus particle contains:
• two identical copies of a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome
• the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which makes DNA from an RNA template
• integrase, which inserts the viral DNA into a host chromosome
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Key terms in this lesson
- reverse transcriptase
- A viral enzyme that synthesises DNA from an RNA template, used by retroviruses such as HIV.
More in Prokaryotic Cells
- Viruses
- The Structure of Viruses
- DNA Viruses
- RNA Viruses
- Viral Reproduction
- Virus Life Cycle
- DNA Virus Latency
- DNA Virus Lytic Pathway
All 31 lessons in Prokaryotic Cells · All Edexcel AS-level Biology topics