Retroviruses

[browncomputer]

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Can retroviruses have minus-strand RNA or double stranded RNA?

EK Bio (page 55) seems to imply that only plus-strand RNA includes retroviruses with reverse transcriptase: "The 'plus-strand' indicates that proteins can be directly translated from the RNA. Enveloped plus-strand RNA viruses include retroviruses such as the virus that causes AIDS'

 

[AquiVoy13]

Yeah I'm pretty sure its ss plus-strand RNA only. If it was negative, then it would have to make a complementary RNA strand before it could use the reverse transcriptase. But that's not the case, as the reverse transcriptase is used with the RNA genome itself.

 

[browncomputer]

okay, thank you!