Retrovirus consists of two molecules of
single-stranded RNA connected together. The double strand allows a higher rate
of recombination gene.
Virus are
morphologically very similar to each other and are composed of proteins, RNA
and membrane lipids.
The main feature of this virus is the reverse
transcriptase enzyme that produces DNA from an RNA molecule.
The virus recognizes the cell surface and fuses with
the plasma membrane. After penetration of the viral nucleocapsid, occurs the
reverse transcription of virus RNA into viral DNA that migrates to the nucleus
of the cell and integrates in the host cell DNA. Then
starts the transcription of this DNA into viral RNA, consequently proteins are
also produced and hundreds of new virus. One of the most familiar types of
retrovirus is HIV, which infects humans blood T lymphocytes.
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