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4 - Retroviruses

from Section 1 - Agents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2010

By
Brian C. Dow ,
Eberhard W. Fiebig  and
Michael P. Busch
Edited by
John A. J. Barbara ,
Fiona A. M. Regan  and
Marcela Contreras
Brian C. Dow
Affiliation:
Consultant Clinical Microbiologist; Head, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, National Microbiology Reference Unit, West of Scotland, Transfusion Centre, Glasgow, UK
Eberhard W. Fiebig
Affiliation:
Associate Professor/Vice Chair, UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine Service, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA
Michael P. Busch
Affiliation:
Director, Blood Systems Research Institute; Vice President Research and Scientific Programs, Blood Systems, Inc.; Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, USA
John A. J. Barbara
Affiliation:
University of the West of England, Bristol
Fiona A. M. Regan
Affiliation:
HNSBT and Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, London
Marcela Contreras
Affiliation:
University of the West of England, Bristol
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Summary

Retroviruses have a wide distribution in nature, with examples in insects, reptiles and nearly all mammals. The human retrovirus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV 1 and 2), belongs to the lentivirus group of the retrovirus family, whilst human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV I and II) belongs to the oncorna group. Human T-cell lymphotropic virus I and II are thought to have evolved from simian T-lymphotropic retroviruses that were transmitted to humans over the past centuries or millenia. Human immunodeficiency virus is thought to have derived from simian immunodeficiency viruses that are endemic in chimpanzees in Central Africa, and probably infected natives over the past century (Sharp et al., 2001).

Retroviruses are membrane-coated, single stranded RNA viruses that have a distinct genomic organization and require the presence of reverse transcriptase in their replication cycle. In a typical infection, retrovirus particles attach to the cell membrane, reverse transcriptase copies viral RNA into complementary double stranded DNA and this is integrated into the host cell chromosome. Host cell enzymes help virus and host regulatory genes complete the retrovirus lifecycle by producing virions that bud from the plasma membrane to infect other cells or organisms.

Human immunodeficiency viruses 1 and 2

Definition and characteristics of agent

Human immunodeficiency virus was discovered in the early 1980s by two groups of workers, Montagnier in France and Gallo in the USA. Originally described as human T cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III), the virus was shown to infect T-cell lymphocytes.

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Transfusion Microbiology , pp. 59 - 66
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Retroviruses
    • By Brian C. Dow, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist; Head, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, National Microbiology Reference Unit, West of Scotland, Transfusion Centre, Glasgow, UK, Eberhard W. Fiebig, Associate Professor/Vice Chair, UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine Service, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA, Michael P. Busch, Director, Blood Systems Research Institute; Vice President Research and Scientific Programs, Blood Systems, Inc.; Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, USA
  • Edited by John A. J. Barbara, University of the West of England, Bristol, Fiona A. M. Regan, Marcela Contreras, University of the West of England, Bristol
  • Book: Transfusion Microbiology
  • Online publication: 12 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545245.008
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  • Retroviruses
    • By Brian C. Dow, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist; Head, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, National Microbiology Reference Unit, West of Scotland, Transfusion Centre, Glasgow, UK, Eberhard W. Fiebig, Associate Professor/Vice Chair, UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine Service, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA, Michael P. Busch, Director, Blood Systems Research Institute; Vice President Research and Scientific Programs, Blood Systems, Inc.; Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, USA
  • Edited by John A. J. Barbara, University of the West of England, Bristol, Fiona A. M. Regan, Marcela Contreras, University of the West of England, Bristol
  • Book: Transfusion Microbiology
  • Online publication: 12 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545245.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Retroviruses
    • By Brian C. Dow, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist; Head, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, National Microbiology Reference Unit, West of Scotland, Transfusion Centre, Glasgow, UK, Eberhard W. Fiebig, Associate Professor/Vice Chair, UCSF Department of Laboratory Medicine; Chief, Laboratory Medicine Service, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA, Michael P. Busch, Director, Blood Systems Research Institute; Vice President Research and Scientific Programs, Blood Systems, Inc.; Professor of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, USA
  • Edited by John A. J. Barbara, University of the West of England, Bristol, Fiona A. M. Regan, Marcela Contreras, University of the West of England, Bristol
  • Book: Transfusion Microbiology
  • Online publication: 12 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545245.008
Available formats
×