title: Mechanisms of retroviral mutation.
abstract: Retroviruses, like other RNA viruses, mutate at very high rates (0.05-1 mutations per genome per replication cycle) and exist as complex genetically heterogeneous populations ('quasispecies') that are ever changing. De novo mutations are generated by inherently error-prone steps in the retroviral life cycle that introduce base substitutions, frame shifts, genetic rearrangements and hypermutations.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Biochemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA. brad.preston@genetics.utah.edu
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dougherty
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase