The remarkable frequency of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 genetic recombination.

ABSTRACT: The genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) results from a combination of point mutations and genetic recombination, and rates of both processes are unusually high. This review focuses on the mechanisms and outcomes of HIV-1 genetic recombination and on the parameters that make recombination so remarkably frequent. Experimental work has demonstrated that the process that leads to recombination--a copy choice mechanism involving the migration of reverse transcriptase between viral RNA templates--occurs several times on average during every round of HIV-1 DNA synthesis. Key biological factors that lead to high recombination rates for all retroviruses are the recombination-prone nature of their reverse transcription machinery and their pseudodiploid RNA genomes. Howev

SUBMITTER: Onafuwa-Nuga A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2738136 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature