HIV sequence from virus

[Marnix L. Bosch]

> Let me ask the following to help in understanding my question.  Is
> there any evidence that all the work done on "HIV" in tissue culture
> is anything more than transfection (as opposed to infection) studies?

For one thing, transfection is not that easy, infection is just mixing
cells and virus. DNA or RNA will not enter cells under these conditions.

> I noticed in the LAV cloning paper from 1985? Nature that oligo dT
> was used to prime (apparently) free nucleic acids banding at the
> position of viral particles from the sucrose gradient.

free DNA/RNA does not band at this density, particles with membranes do.
  
>Is viral RNA
> polyadenylated?  

yes, it is made just like mRNA is

> Why should free nucleic acids co-banding with viral
> particles in a density gradient have anything to do with the virus?

because they are not free but happen to end up in a particle

> At any rate, this oligo dT primed material was then cloned and used
> to fish out the "HIV" provirus from a genomic library.  Why should
> this probe have worked at all?

because the viral genomic RNA (in the particle) is an exact copy of the
proviral genomic integrated DNA.

Hope this helps,

Marnix

-- 
Marnix L. Bosch
marnix at u.washington.edu