(RT) dsDNA Viruses Flashcards
Baltimore classification of RT dsDNA viruses
dsDNA RT viruses belong to Class VII, according to the Baltimore classification of viruses
These are viruses that have the capacity to replicate their genome via reverse transcription
RT DNA viruses differs from group I (dsDNA) and class II (ssDNA) by their capacity to replicate via RNA intermediate
Examples of RT DNA viruses
hepatitic B virus (HBV)
cauliflower mosaic virus
see slides
Hepadnaviruses: Introduction
The hepadnaviruses are classified into the
family Hepadnaviridae. • The viruses in the group are so named
because they are DNA viruses which infect the
liver cells of the host causing hepatitis. Hepatitis – DNA – Viruses (HepaDNAviruses)
• Hepadnaviruses are commonly known as
hepatitis B viruses (HBVs)
How are Hepadnavirsues unique
These viruses are unique in two ways:
- They have a small genome which is efficiently
organized to encode virus proteins and regulate the
expression of virus genes. - Hepadnaviruses (RT DNA) replicate their genome via
RNA intermediate using reverse transcription
enzymes. This differentiates them from dsDNA viruses
which replicate their DNA directly to DNA.
Note: Hepadnaviruses and the plant virus (cauliflower
mosaic virus) both form a group referred to as the
Pararetroviruses
The hosts of Hepadnaviruses
Some hepadnaviruses infect mammals
including humans (e.g. hepatitis B virus, a
major cause of disease and death).
• Some infect birds (e.g. heron HBV and
woodchuck hepatitis B virus, duck HBV, non- pathogenic virus).
Human Hepatitis B Viruses (HBVs)
prevalence and distribution
Prevalence and distribution: The virus is
estimated to infect about 350 million persons
worldwide
• Most infected person are either from Asia,
while some from Africa.
• There is high prevalence of infection in the far
north of Northern America and Greenland
which is usually overlooked due to their small
population.
Hepatitis B Viruses (HBVs) continued
Transmission of HBVs
• The virus is mainly found in the blood and semen of
infected persons. Thus, similar to that of HIV.
• HBVs have resulted in about 50 million new infection
annually.
• Prenatal infection: Majority of infected children
acquire the virus from their mothers.
• Also, the use of contaminated syringes and needles for
injections account for a large number of infections in
developing countries.
Hepatitis B Viruses (HBVs) continued
• Symptoms:
Symptoms: Most HBV-1 infected persons show
little (mild) or no symptoms, particularly in
children.
• However, infection is more persistent in new born
than adults as 90-95% of infected children were
observed to harbour the virus for a long period
of time compared to 1-10% of adults.
• Some infected persons with persistent infection
may remain healthy, while some may develop
severe hepatitis, resulting to cirrhosis and liver
cancer.
• HBVs result in about 500,000 deaths annually.
HBV Virion
4 major components
The shape of the virion is fairly spherical,
having a diameter of approximately 42 nm.
• The HBV virion has 4 major components:
- DNA
- P (polymerase protein)
- Capsid
- Envelope
HBV DNA
HBV has a small genome (3.2 kbp), composed of
dsDNA, with one strand incomplete, making the DNA
partly single stranded or partly double stranded.
• Also, a short sequence is triple stranded, due to
complementary sequence at the 5’ ends which gives
the DNA a circular conformation.
HBV P (polymerase protein)
Plays important role in replication. Thus, every
HBV virus has one P protein at least.
• The N terminus of P protein forms a ’’terminal
protein‘’ domain, separated by a spacer from the
reverse transcriptase domain.
• The C terminus of P protein has a ribonuclease H
domain (RNase H).
• Additionally, the P-protein has a DNA-dependent
DNA polymerase activity.
HBV Capsid
HBVs possess icosahedral shaped capsid
containing pores, with short spikes protruding
from the virion surface.
Figure 3 : HBV capsid:
The capsid in composed of dimers of the C
(core) protein, which is mainly alpha- helical.
The C terminus of the C protein is simple
due to a large amount of arginine; hence,
the region function in binding virus
genome.
HBV Envelope proteins
The HBV envelope has three protein species named small (S), medium (M) and large (L).
• The M and L proteins are the longer versions of S
proteins.
• The S proteins is the most abundant among the
three proteins.
• Each of the three proteins has one or more
glycosylation site.
• The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is
composed of the surface regions of the envelope
proteins.
N terminus of L protein
binding site for cell
receptors is situated close
to the N terminus of the L
protein.
half of the
L molecules have the N
terminus on the outside of
the envelope
the other 50% have the N terminus on the inside of the envelope, attached to the capsid.
HBV Non-infectious particles
HBV are unique by their ability not only to replicate
progeny virions but also huge amount of noninfectious molecules that have been released from
infected liver cells.
• These non-infectious particles do not contain
nucleocapsid, but lipids and virions envelop proteins.
• The shape of some of the particles are either sphere or
filament.
• Both the virions and non-infectious particles are more
abundant in the blood than in the liver.
• Although, the non-infectious particles (mostly spheres)
are produced in large number than virions.