Retroviruses: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A retrovirus is a virus with an | A retrovirus is a [[virus|virus]] with an [[mRNA|mRNA]] based [[genome|genome]]. They use their own [[Reverse transcriptase]] from within their capsid to convert their viral m[[RNA|RNA]] genome to c[[DNA|DNA]] that can be integrated into the hosts [[Genome|genome]] via an integrase [[enzyme|enzyme]] which acts akin to a [[transposon|transposon]]. This results in the host inadvertently duplicating the virus. The term 'retro' stems from the fact that the virus has reversed the usual flow of [[DNA|DNA]] to [[RNA|RNA]] . | ||
Well known viruses in this class are [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] and [[HTLV]]. | |||
Revision as of 18:32, 21 October 2012
A retrovirus is a virus with an mRNA based genome. They use their own Reverse transcriptase from within their capsid to convert their viral mRNA genome to cDNA that can be integrated into the hosts genome via an integrase enzyme which acts akin to a transposon. This results in the host inadvertently duplicating the virus. The term 'retro' stems from the fact that the virus has reversed the usual flow of DNA to RNA .