28. Class VI animal viruses include the retroviruses such as HIV. What type of enzyme does HIV introduce into the host cell (white blood cell) when its genome has gained entry? A) Reverse transcriptase B) Restriction enzyme C) DNA polymerase D) RNA polymerase A denovinus-vector
The correct option is A) Reverse transcriptase.
When the HIV has gained entry, the introduction of reverse transcriptase occurs in the host cell. As the name suggests it converts its single stranded viral RNA to double stranded DNA in the cell, which gets integrated into the host genome by another enzyme called as integrase. It can be called as Reverse transcription.
This integrated HIV DNA is called provirus.
B) Restriction enzyme is not correct option because it cleaves the DNA at certain sites. These are also called as restriction endonucleases, however, these aren't found in HIV.
C)DNA polymerase is not correct because ot catalyses the DNA synthesis and very essential in DNA replication. It is responsible for forming new copies of DNA but has no link to HIV. So it is not correct option.
D) RNA polymerase is not correct because it synthesizes RNA from DNA template. The process is called as transcription. However, it is also not found in the HIV. So it's not a correct option.
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