title: Hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase and its many roles in hepadnaviral genomic replication.
abstract: The replication of hepatitis B virus DNA proceeds through reverse transcription of a pregenomic RNA intermediate, a reaction that takes place within viral nucleocapsids and is catalyzed by the viral P protein. P protein is involved in all phases of the reaction, serving as (a) a recognition factor for the selective encapsidation of the pregenomic RNA template; (b) the protein primer for the initiation of minus strand DNA synthesis; (c) the reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase involved in strand elongation; and (d) the RNaseH activity required to remove RNA template prior to plus strand synthesis. P protein is capable of site-specific RNA recognition, specifically binding to a stem-loop structure at the 5' end of pregenomic RNA. This interaction is required for both RNA encapsidation and reverse transcription.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ganem
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tavis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase