Question

The HIV virus contains all of the following components except ________.

1) single-stranded RNA

2) double-stranded RNA

3) reverse transcriptase

4) protease

5) integrase

Answer 1

HIV does not contain double-stranded RNA; it has single-stranded RNA, which is converted into DNA in the host cell using the viral enzyme reverse transcriptase.

Step-by-step explanation:

HIV contains several components essential for its replication and infection of host cells. However, it does not contain double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The components it does have include single-stranded RNA (ssRNA), reverse transcriptase, protease, and integrase.

When HIV infects a cell, reverse transcriptase translates the ssRNA of the virus into complementary DNA (cDNA), which then forms double-stranded DNA that can integrate into the host genome. This enzyme is crucial for the HIV lifecycle, among other enzymes it carries into the host cell for its replication process. In contrast, double-stranded RNA is not brought by HIV into the host cell and is not a part of its viral components.