A researcher studying the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected human T cells with wild-type or Rev-deficient viruses. She extracts cytoplasmic RNA from the cells and separates each isolated RNA mixture by agarose-gel electrophoresis. She then uses northern analysis using HIV-specific probes to identify those bands that contain viral RNA. The results are presented in the following schematic drawing. Which lane (1 or 2) corresponds to cells infected with the Rev?-deficient virus? What is the size of the full-length HIV genome?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In the absence of a functional Rev protein (lane 2), only the fully spliced viral RNAs are exported from the nucleus to the cytosol. Rev is required for the export of the full-length viral RNA.

A Researcher Studying the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Has Infected