The Virus (Biology)

•HIV belongs to the lentivirus group of the retrovirus family.

•Types

HIV-1

HIV-2 (exclusively in West Africa)

•HIV1 is a single strand of RNA enclosed in a protein envelope

•Viral replication is dependent upon a DNA polymerase(reverse transcriptase) which is responsible for copying the viral RNA into DNA

•Incorporation of DNA then takes place into the host cell genome(T-helper CD4 cell genome)

•Additional transcription of the DNA results in new viral particles that are extruded from the cell membranes