title: HIV-1 genetic recombination: experimental approaches and observations.
abstract: Many HIV-1 isolates contain interwoven genomic sections derived from multiple parental strains. Such chimeric genomes arise via genetic recombination. This review summarizes experimental approaches for addressing the frequency of HIV-1 genetic recombination during single cycles of viral replication in vitro, and describes factors--such as variation in extents of sequence homology and the metabolic state of the infected cell--that modulate recombination. Findings from such studies suggest that recombinogenic template switching is an even more common occurrence during HIV-1 DNA synthesis than is the introduction of base substitution errors. This implies that recombination is an inherent property of retroviral DNA synthesis, and that the vast majority of HIV-1 DNAs are biochemical recombinants.
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Center for AIDS Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1150 West Medical Center Drive, Room 5641, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0620 USA.
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Telesnitsky
mesh_terms: D004261:DNA Replication; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral