pubmed-article:19020829 | pubmed:abstractText | In HIV-1, tRNA(Lys3) serves as the primer for reverse transcription of minus strand strong stop cDNA. During viral assembly, the tRNA(Lys) isoacceptors, tRNA(Lys1,2) and tRNA(Lys3), are selectively packaged into the virion. The selectively packaging of tRNA(Lys3) facilitates the annealing of tRNA(Lys3) to the viral genome and the initiation of reverse transcription. We describe herein a set of experimental approaches for studying the mechanism by which tRNA(Lys) is selectively incorporated into HIV-1 and investigate how primer tRNA(Lys3) is annealed to viral genome. The methods described will also help in the analysis of cellular RNAs packaged in the virus particles. | lld:pubmed |