The Enzyme Reverse Transcriptase

Question

The enzyme reverse transcriptase
A) synthesizes DNA to repair gaps in a DNA strand.
B) synthesizes DNA from an RNA template.
C) synthesizes RNA from an RNA template.
D) synthesizes RNA from a DNA template.
E) can synthesize DNA or RNA from an RNA template.

Accepted Answer

Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme that can make a DNA copy of RNA (i.e., reverse transcription) using the RNA template. It is commonly found in retroviruses, such as HIV, which use reverse transcriptase to convert their RNA genome into DNA for insertion into the host's genome. Because they use RNA as a template to synthesize DNA, reverse transcription reactions are unique in that they allow information to flow from RNA to DNA, which contradicts the flow of information from DNA to RNA to protein.