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Journal of Virology, September 2000, p. 8648-8657, Vol. 74, No. 18
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

The Majority of Duck Hepatitis B Virus Reverse Transcriptase in Cells Is Nonencapsidated and Is Bound to a Cytoplasmic Structure

Ermei Yao, Yunhao Gong,dagger Nanhai Chen, and John E. Tavis*

Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63104

Received 22 February 2000/Accepted 14 June 2000

The hepadnavirus reverse transcriptase binds cotranslationally to the viral pregenomic RNA. This ribonucleoprotein complex is then encapsidated into nascent viral core particles, where the reverse transcriptase copies the viral RNA into DNA. Here we report that 75% of the duck hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase present in transfected LMH cells does not follow this well-known pathway but rather exists in the cell separate from the core protein or nucleocapsids. The nonencapsidated reverse transcriptase is also abundant in infected duck liver. The nonencapsidated reverse transcriptase exists as a complex set of isoforms that are most likely produced by posttranslational modification. Interestingly, only the smallest of these isoforms is encapsidated into viral core particles. The nonencapsidated reverse transcriptase is bound to a large cellular cytoplasmic structure(s) in a detergent-sensitive complex. The cellular distribution of the reverse transcriptase only partially overlaps that of the core protein, and this distribution is unaffected by blocking encapsidation. These observations raise the possibilities that the metabolic fate of the reverse transcriptase may be posttranscriptionally regulated and that the reverse transcriptase may have roles in the viral replication cycle beyond its well-known function in copying the viral genome.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, St. Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63104. Phone: (314) 577-8441. Fax: (314) 773-3403. E-mail: tavisje{at}slu.edu.

dagger Present address: Viridae Clinical Sciences, Inc., Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y8, Canada.

Journal of Virology, September 2000, p. 8648-8657, Vol. 74, No. 18
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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