Question

For bacteriophage with +ssRNA as their genome, which type of nucleic acid is used as the template for the production of more genomic RNA?

1) -ssRNA
2) dsRNA
3) -ssDNA
4) dsDNA

Answer 1

In bacteriophages with a +ssRNA genome, the -ssRNA acts as the template for the production of more genomic RNA, facilitated by RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

Step-by-step explanation:

For a bacteriophage that uses +ssRNA (positive-sense single-stranded RNA) as its genome, the template used for the production of more genomic RNA is -ssRNA (negative-sense single-stranded RNA). When the phage infects a host cell, it uses its +ssRNA as a template to synthesize a complementary -ssRNA strand. This -ssRNA strand then serves as the template for the production of new +ssRNA genomes. This process is facilitated by RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, an enzyme that typically must be encoded by the viral genome itself because host cells do not generally possess this enzyme.