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Journal of Virology, August 1999, p. 6573-6581, Vol. 73, No. 8
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
RNase H Requirements for the Second Strand Transfer
Reaction of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Reverse
Transcription
Christine M.
Smith,
Jeffrey
S.
Smith,
and
Monica J.
Roth*
Department of Biochemistry, University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854
Received 15 September 1998/Accepted 3 May 1999
Retroviral reverse transcriptase (RT) enzymes are responsible for
transcribing viral RNA into double-stranded DNA. An in vitro assay to
analyze the second strand transfer event during human immunodeficiency
virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcription has been developed. Model
substrates were constructed which mimic the viral intermediate found
during plus-strand strong-stop synthesis. Utilizing wild-type HIV-1 RT
and a mutant E478Q RT, the requirement for RNase H activity in this
strand transfer event was analyzed. In the presence of
Mg2+, HIV-1 RT was able to fully support the second strand
transfer reaction in vitro. However, in the presence of
Mg2+, the E478Q RT mutant had no detectable RNase H
activity and was unable to support strand transfer. In the presence of
Mn2+, the E478Q RT yields the initial endoribonucleolytic
cleavage at the penultimate C residue of the tRNA primer yet does not
support strand transfer. This suggests that subsequent degradation of the RNA primer by the RNase H domain was required for strand transfer. In reactions in which the E478Q RT was complemented with exogenous RNase H enzymes, strand transfer was supported. Additionally, we have
shown that HIV-1 RT is capable of supporting strand transfer with
substrates that mimic tRNAHis as well as the authentic
tRNA3Lys.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854. Phone: (732) 235-5048. Fax: (732) 235-4783. E-mail:
Roth{at}waksman.rutgers.edu.

Present address: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
21205-2185.
Journal of Virology, August 1999, p. 6573-6581, Vol. 73, No. 8
0022-538X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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