title: Weak palindromic consensus sequences are a common feature found at the integration target sites of many retroviruses.
abstract: Integration into the host genome is one of the hallmarks of the retroviral life cycle and is catalyzed by virus-encoded integrases. While integrase has strict sequence requirements for the viral DNA ends, target site sequences have been shown to be very diverse. We carefully examined a large number of integration target site sequences from several retroviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1, simian immunodeficiency virus, murine leukemia virus, and avian sarcoma-leukosis virus, and found that a statistical palindromic consensus, centered on the virus-specific duplicated target site sequence, was a common feature at integration target sites for these retroviruses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Technology, Scientific Application International Corporation, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, 915 Toll House Ave., Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crise
authors.forename: Shawn M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Munroe
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D016662:Virus Integration / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral