Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 45
Group VII Viruses: Double
Stranded DNA Reverse
Transcriptase Viruses
“Whatever Nature has in store for mankind, unpleasant as it may be, men must
accept, for ignorance is never better than knowledge.”
Enrico Fermi
Group I, dsDNA (Chapter 39)
Group II, ssDNA (Chapter 40)
Group III, dsRNA (Chapter 41)
Group IV (
)ssRNA (Chapter 42)
1
Group V (
)ssRNA (Chapter 43)
Group VI, ssRNA-RT (Chapter 44)
Group VII, dsDNA-RT (Chapter 45)
Hepadnaviridae
Orthohepadnavirus
*Hepatitis B
Prions (Chapter 46)
2
Group VII viruses are double-stranded DNA viruses that can integrate their
DNA into the host genome, using a reverse transcriptase enzyme. The reverse
transcriptase enzyme acts upon RNA, transcribed from viral DNA, as the tem-
plate for genomic DNA. Hence, the Group VII viruses are an unusual type of
retrovirus that do not belong to Class Retroviridae (Group VI, Chapter 44),
because the genome is double-stranded DNA. Likewise, the Group VII viruses
are not classed within the double-stranded DNA viruses (Group I, Chapter 39)
because their replication requires the synthesis of an RNA intermediate.
Group VII, dsDNA-RT
Hepadnaviridae
Orthohepadnavirus
*Hepatitis B
