Retrovirus

Alpharetrovirus

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Betaretrovirus

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Gammaretrovirus

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Deltaretrovirus

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Epsilonretrovirus

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Lentivirus

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Spumavirus

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A retrovirus is a virus which has a genome consisting of two plus sense RNA molecules, which may or may not be identical. It relies on reverse transcriptase to perform the reverse transcription of its genome from RNA into DNA, which can then be integrated into the host's genome with an integrase. The virus itself is a storage form for its nucleic acid genome as well as a means of delivery of its genome into targeted cells, which constitute the infection. Once in the host's cell, the RNA strands undergo reverse transcription in the cytosol. Once integrated into the host's genome, the retroviral DNA, is then referred to as a provirus.

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Some retroviruses have integrated into the germ line and are as such passed on to the next generation. These endogenous retroviruses (vs. exogenous) have special attention in the research of immunology-related pathologies.

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While transcription was classically thought to only occur from DNA to RNA, reverse transcriptase transcribes RNA into DNA. The term "retro" in retrovirus refers to this reversal of the central dogma of molecular biology. Reverse transcriptase activity outside of retroviruses has been found in almost all eukaryotes, enabling the generation and insertion of new copies of retrotransposons into the host genome.

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Because reverse transcription is missing the usual "proofreading" of DNA transcription, this kind of virus mutates very often. This enables the virus to grow resistant to antiviral pharmaceuticals quickly, and is one of the main reasons why an effective vaccine for HIV has not been developed yet.

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Among others, retrovirus genomes commonly contain three genes, that encode proteins that can be found back in the mature virus:

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• gag (group-specific antigen) codes for core and structural proteins of the virus;
• pol (polymerase) codes for reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase; and,
• env (envelope) codes for the retroviral coat proteins.

Four identified human retroviruses (HTLV 1&2, HIV 1&2) attack CD4 cells.

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Another feature common to all retroviruses is a lipid coating surrounding their capsid. It is essential for their propagation. This explains why retroviruses can be made inactive by just washing hands.

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Studies of retroviruses led to the first demonstrated synthesis of DNA from RNA templates, a fundamental mode for transferring genetic material that occurs in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Certain groups speculate that the processes followed by retroviruses (that is, RNA>DNA>RNA>Protein) may be the key to the evolution of DNA; thus, that in the "primordial soup", retroviruses evolved to create DNA from the RNA templates, and it was subsequently adopted by cellular organisms due to the increased chemical stability of DNA.

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The following genera are included here:

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• Genus Alpharetrovirus; type species: Avian leucosis virus
• Genus Betaretrovirus; type species: Mouse mammary tumour virus
• Genus Gammaretrovirus; type species: Murine leukeamia virus; others include Feline leukemia virus
• Genus Deltaretrovirus; type species: Bovine leukaemia virus; others include Human T-lymphotropic virus
• Genus Epsilonretrovirus; type species: Walleye dermal sarcoma virus
• Genus Lentivirus; type species: Human immunodeficiency virus 1; others include Simian, Feline immunodeficiency viruses
• Genus Spumavirus; type species: Chimpanzee foamy virus

These were previously divided into three subfamilies (Oncovirinae, Lentivirinae, and Spumavirinae), but with our current knowledge of retroviruses, this is no longer appropriate.

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Retrovirus: See also ►



 

Virus: :This article is concerned with virus as a biological infectious particle; for other uses of the term see virus (disambiguation). An extensive treatment of the pluralization of the word "virus" in English is found in the article Plural of virus. A list of biological viruses has also been prepared. ...

Genome: In biology the genome of an organism is the whole hereditary information of an organism that is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). This includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences. The term was first coined, in 1920, by Hans Winkler, Professor of Botany at the University of Ham...

RNA: Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid consisting of a string of covalently-bound nucleotides. It is biochemically distinguished from DNA by the presence of an additional hydroxyl group, attached to each pentose ring. While RNA usually contains uracil instead of thymine, this is not always true, f...