The single-stranded RNA genomes are released from the capsid. HIV uses the enzyme reverse transcriptase to transcribe its RNA genome into single-stranded DNA. As the DNA is being made, the RNA genome is degraded by an RNase. The reverse transcriptase then synthesizes a complementary DNA strand to produce a double-stranded DNA intermediate that enters the infected host cell's nucleus.

GIF Animation of HIV Copying RNA into DNA with Reverse Transcriptase by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://cwoer.ccbcmd.edu/science/microbiology/index_gos.html.

Last updated: Feb., 2018
Please send comments and inquiries to Dr. Gary Kaiser