Whats the difference between a retrovirus and an RNA virus?
Forgive the length of the answer but this should give you all the info you need. RNA VIRUS REPLICATION – GENERAL STRATEGIES a) RNA viruses that do not have a DNA phase Viruses that replicate via RNA intermediates need an RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase to replicate their RNA, but animal cells do not seem to possess a suitable enzyme. Therefore, this type of animal RNA virus needs to code for an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. No viral proteins can be made until viral messenger RNA is available. Thus, the nature of the RNA in the virion affects the strategy of the virus: i. Plus-stranded RNA viruses In these viruses, the virion (genomic) RNA is the same sense as mRNA and so functions as mRNA. This mRNA can be translated immediately upon infection of the host cell Examples: poliovirus (picornavirus) togaviruses flaviviruses ii. Negative-stranded RNA viruses The virion RNA is negative sense (complementary to mRNA) and must therefore be copied into the complementary plus-sense mRNA before prote
A retrovirus reverse transcribes its RNA into a DNA copy of the genome as a crucial part of its life cycle inside a host cell. The process of reverse transcription is what defines a virus as a retrovirus. The viral DNA in the nucleus is then transcribed to make new viral RNA genomes. RNA viruses that are not retroviruses do not have a DNA intermediate, and RNA replication occurs in the cytoplasm.
