NEET BIOLOGY

BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

VIRUSES

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
What is the function or reverse transcriptase in retroviruses?
A
it uses viral RNA as a template for DNA synthesis
B
it translates viral RNA into proteins
C
it converts host cell RNA into viral DNA
D
it uses viral RNA as a template for making complimentary RNA strands
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme found in retroviruses that converts the RNA genome carried in the retrovirus particle into double-stranded DNA. Reverse transcriptase first transcribes a complementary strand of DNA to make an RNA:DNA hybrid.

Detailed explanation-2: -Reverse transcriptase (RT) is a multifunctional enzyme that has RNA-and DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity and ribonuclease H (RNase H) activity, and is responsible for the reverse transcription of retroviral single-stranded RNA into double-stranded DNA.

Detailed explanation-3: -Also, retrovirus virions contain a novel polymerase, commonly called reverse transcriptase, that uses the viral RNA as a template to synthesize DNA (so, it is an “RNA-dependent DNA polymerase").

Detailed explanation-4: -Get alerts for new articles, or get an alert when an article is cited. Replication of the RNA genome of the HIV-1 is carried out by reverse transcriptase (RT), the product of the viral pol gene. RT uses the genomic single-stranded (+) RNA (ssRNA) as a template to synthesize a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) copy.

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