REVERSE transcriptases (RTs) are usually perceived as engines of devastation employed by evil retroviruses such as HIV But Rls also form an essential component of the replication machinery of a dizzying array of elements, including DNA viruses, plasmids, mobile introns and diverse retrotransposons. The latter are an important group of genome parasites that replicate, much like retroviruses, through reverse transcription mechanisms, thereby increasing their copy number in the host genome. Although the potential deleterious effects of these elements on their host species are obvious (occasional host gene inactivation and increased DNA burden), there are hints that retrotransposons may occasionally benefit their hosts.
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