Reverse transcriptase in bacteria

1365-2958

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Biology

Medicine

Reverse transcriptase, discovered in 1970 in retroviruses, has until recently been found only in eukaryotic organisms. Recently it was shown to occur in two groups of bacteria: myxobacteria and Escherichia coli. The gene for reverse transcriptase is part of a chromosomal genetic element that codes for the production of a branched DNA-RNA compound. In this compound a single-stranded DNA is connected to RNA at a specific G residue by a 2′-5’phosphodiester linkage. The precursor for the DNA-RNA compound is a folded messenger RNA, in which the specific G residue is the initiation point for reverse transcription. In the final DNA-RNA compound, the portion of the RNA transcribed by reverse transcriptase is eliminated by RNase H. The DNA-RNA compound is present in several hundred copies per cell. Its biological function is unknown at present.

Electronic Resource