Human T-lymphotropic virus 1: Difference between revisions

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==Genome structure==
==Genome structure==
Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes?  Circular or linear?  Other interesting features?  What is known about its sequence?
HTLV-1 contains a linear, dimeric, ssRNA(+) genome of 8,507nt , with a 5’-cap and a 3’poly-A tail. There are two long terminal repeats (LTRs) of about 600nt long at the 5’ and 3’ ends that contain the U3, R, and U5 regions. There is also a primer binding site (PBS) at the 5’end and a polypurine tract (PPT) at the 3’end.
 
 
==Cell structure and metabolism==
==Cell structure and metabolism==
Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.
Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Revision as of 22:16, 14 December 2008

A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Human T-lymphotropic virus 1

Classification

Higher order taxa

Viruses; Retro-transcribing viruses; Retroviridae; Orthoretrovirinae; Deltaretrovirus; Primate T-lymphotropic Virus-1; Human T-lymphotropic Virus-1

Species

Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) is divided into 4 subtypes: A) Cosmopolitan B) Central African Group C) Melanesian Group D) New Central African Group

Description and significance

HTLV-1 is a retrovirus that has infected 20 million people worldwide, and is considered the first retrovirus to be causal for Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). The HTLV-1 virus contains an enveloped virion that is spherical to pleiomorphic and is about 80-100nm in diameter. Transmission occurs through perinatal transmission by blood or breast milk, sexual transmission, or exposure to contaminated blood products. The infectivity of HTLV-1 is tightly cell-associated, and is mediated through a viral synapse, which suggests that the cell-free virus is largely non-infectious. Tax, a viral oncoprotein, is needed to initiate cellular transformation because HTLV-1 does not use viral capture of a cellular proto-oncogene for oncogenesis. Tax transforms cells through various mechanisms, including the creation of chromosomal instability, the amplification of centrosomes, the abrogation of DNA repair, the activation of cyclin-dependent kinases, and the silencing of p53 and spindle assembly checkpoints.

Genome structure

HTLV-1 contains a linear, dimeric, ssRNA(+) genome of 8,507nt , with a 5’-cap and a 3’poly-A tail. There are two long terminal repeats (LTRs) of about 600nt long at the 5’ and 3’ ends that contain the U3, R, and U5 regions. There is also a primer binding site (PBS) at the 5’end and a polypurine tract (PPT) at the 3’end.

Cell structure and metabolism

Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.


Ecology

Habitat; symbiosis; contributions to the environment.

Pathology

How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.

Current Research

Enter summarries of the most rescent research here--at least three required

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

Edited by student of Emily Lilly at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.