Saturday, February 25, 2012

What happens to the host DNA after a retrovirus invades a cell?

You know how retroviruses have this enzyme called reverse transcriptase which takes viral RNA and makes it viral DNA? So what if there is viral DNA, what happened to the host DNA?What happens to the host DNA after a retrovirus invades a cell?
The host DNA is still there, just as it always is.



After the viral RNA has been reverse-transcribed into DNA, another viral enzyme known as integrase carries the viral DNA into the cell's nucleus and inserts it into the host genome. This insertion occurs randomly at any point in the genome.



As a result, the host's DNA now includes the viral genes, and the cell's normal transcription and translation mechanisms can express those genes to build new virions. These "bud" from the original cell and are then able to infect other cells.What happens to the host DNA after a retrovirus invades a cell?
It will still act in the same manner as the reverse transcribed RNA. The viral DNA will act as a transposon, which will be inserted into the host's DNA.

The process is the same, but with viral DNA, you do not have the reverse transcriptase stage.

good luck.

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