Reverse transcriptase in bacteria.

Reverse transcriptase, discovered in 1970 in retroviruses, has until recently been found only in eukaryotic organisms. Recently it was shown to occur in two groups of bacteria: myxobacteria and Escherichia coli. The gene for reverse transcriptase is part of a chromosomal genetic element that codes for the production of a branched DNA-RNA compound. In this compound a single-stranded DNA is connected to RNA at a specific G residue by a 2'-5' phosphodiester linkage. The precursor for the DNA-RNA compound is a folded messenger RNA, in which the specific G residue is the initiation point for reverse transcription. In the final DNA-RNA compound, the portion of the RNA transcribed by reverse transcriptase is eliminated by RNase H. The DNA-RNA compound is present in several hundred copies per cell. Its biological function is unknown at present.