Question

What distinguishes HIV from other RNA viruses?

Options

• It only infects plant cells

• It has double-stranded RNA genome

• It uses DNA as genetic material

• It is a retrovirus with single-stranded RNA and reverse transcriptase

Answer 1

HIV is a retrovirus that uses single-stranded RNA with reverse transcriptase as its defining characteristic. Reverse transcriptase allows HIV to synthesize DNA from its RNA template, which integrates into the host genome for replication.