Reverse Transcription of Retroviruses and LTR Retrotransposons

Chapter 46 Reverse Transcription of Retroviruses and LTR Retrotransposons Stephen H. Hughes, Stephen H. Hughes HIV Drug Resistance Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, 1050 Boyles St., Building 539 Rm. 130A, Frederick, MD, 21702Search for more papers by this author Stephen H. Hughes, Stephen H. Hughes HIV Drug Resistance Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, 1050 Boyles St., Building 539 Rm. 130A, Frederick, MD, 21702Search for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Michael Chandler, Michael Chandler Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaire, C.N.R.S., F-31062 Toulouse Cedex, FranceSearch for more papers by this authorMartin Gellert, Martin Gellert National Institutes of Health, Molecular Genetics Section, NIDDK, Bethesda, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAlan M. Lambowitz, Alan M. Lambowitz Institute for Cellular Molecular Biology and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TXSearch for more papers by this authorPhoebe A. Rice, Phoebe A. Rice Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, ILSearch for more papers by this authorSuzanne B. Sandmeyer, Suzanne B. Sandmeyer Departments of Biological Chemistry and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CASearch for more papers by this author First published: 26 May 2015 https://doi.org/10.1128/9781555819217.ch46 AboutPDFPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShareShare a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Summary The conversion, well over a billion years ago, of the RNA world into the modern configuration, in which genetic information is maintained primarily in DNA, required reverse transcriptases (RTs), enzymes that were able to copy genetic information from RNA into DNA, a process called reverse transcription. With minor (but important) exceptions, for example telomerases, normal cellular processes no longer require reverse transcription, which is now primarily employed in the replication of hepadnaviruses, retroviruses, and retrotransposons. This chapter will cover the process of reverse transcription, and the RTs that are involved in the replication of retroviruses and the related long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons, which have lifestyles that are similar to a retrovirus that has either lost, or never acquired, the ability to be transmitted horizontally from one cell to another. The RTs of, and reverse transcription by, non-LTR retrotransposons will be considered in the chapters that describe these elements (49–55). A substantial fraction of the work that has been done on reverse transcription and RT has focused on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); this is entirely appropriate given the extent of the HIV epidemic and the fact that HIV-1 RT is the target of two important classes of anti-HIV drugs. Thus, a substantial portion of this review will describe data and insights obtained in experiments that were done with HIV-1 and HIV-1 RT. However, there are some important differences in the RTs, and the process of reverse transcription, among the different retroviruses and LTR retrotransposons; these differences will also be considered, at least briefly. The literature on RT and reverse transcription is both vast and complex. Any review, including this one, can present no more than a superficial overview of what is known. Much that is important has been omitted, some intentionally, some inadvertently; for these omissions, the author apologizes. For those who are interested, a number of helpful reviews have already been published, most of which are focused on retroviral RTs (1 , 2 , 3 , 4). Mobile DNA III RelatedInformation