Published online 2 May 2006
Article |
Hairpin-induced tRNA-mediated (HITME) recombination in HIV-1
Department of Human Retrovirology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1 Viruvation B. V. Wassenaarseweg 72 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +31 20 566 4822; Fax: +31 20 691 6531; Email: b.berkhout{at}amc.uva.nl
Received January 24, 2006. Revised February 23, 2006. Accepted March 27, 2006.
Recombination due to template switching during reverse transcription is a major source of genetic variability in retroviruses. In the present study we forced a recombination event in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by electroporation of T cells with DNA from a molecular HIV-1 clone that has a 300 bp long hairpin structure in the Nef gene (HIV-lhNef). HIV-lhNef does not replicate, but replication-competent escape variants emerged in four independent cultures. The major part of the hairpin was deleted in all escape viruses. In three cases, the hairpin deletion was linked to patch insertion of tRNAasp, tRNAglu or tRNAtrp sequences. The tRNAs were inserted in the viral genome in the antisense orientation, indicating that tRNA-mediated recombination occurred during minus-strand DNA synthesis. We here propose a mechanistic model for this hairpin-induced tRNA-mediated (HITME) recombination. The transient role of the cellular tRNA molecule as enhancer of retroviral recombination is illustrated by the eventual removal of inserted tRNA sequences by a subsequent recombination/deletion event.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
A. Onafuwa-Nuga and A. Telesnitsky The Remarkable Frequency of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Genetic Recombination Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., September 1, 2009; 73(3): 451 - 480. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. J. von Eije, O. t. Brake, and B. Berkhout Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Escape Is Restricted When Conserved Genome Sequences Are Targeted by RNA Interference J. Virol., March 15, 2008; 82(6): 2895 - 2903. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. K. Duggal, L. Goo, S. R. King, and A. Telesnitsky Effects of Identity Minimization on Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus Template Recognition and Frequent Tertiary Template-Directed Insertions during Nonhomologous Recombination J. Virol., November 15, 2007; 81(22): 12156 - 12168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. S. Pita, J. R. de Miranda, W. L. Schneider, and M. J. Roossinck Environment Determines Fidelity for an RNA Virus Replicase J. Virol., September 1, 2007; 81(17): 9072 - 9077. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||

