Question

Brief about the structure of HIV.

Answer 1

HIV:

1. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a type of retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
2. AIDS is a life-threatening disease that weakens an individual’s immune system and makes the person susceptible to various infections.

Structure of HIV:

1. The structure of HIV is spherical with a diameter of 100-120 nm.
2. The virus has an outermost layer called the envelope. It consists of a surface glycoprotein (gp120) that helps in binding to the host cell and a transmembrane glycoprotein (gp41) that mediates the fusion of viral and cellular membranes.
3. The glycoproteins are encoded by the env gene.
4. The virus contains a capsid core that contains single-stranded RNA. Enzymes such as reverse transcriptase and integrase are also present inside the core.
5. Reverse transcriptase helps to convert RNA to DNA, whereas, integrase helps to incorporate the viral genome into the host cell.