The role of Reverse Transcriptase has been discovered in some recent research in bacterial defense against bacteriophages.

Reverse Transcriptase

• The Study: The researchers at Columbia University in New York, found that when the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae is infected by bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria), they use a non-coding RNA with specific structures that could bind to reverse transcriptase and instruct cells to create DNA.
  • New Protein: This DNA copy has multiple copies of a gene that can create a specific protein named ‘Neo’ for “never-ending open-reading frame”. 
  • Finding: The protein could place the bacterial cell in a state of suspended animation and block its replication, thus stalling the replication of the invading bacteriophage as well which has the effect of stopping the infection in its tracks.

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About Reverse Transcriptase (RT)

• Reverse transcriptase (RNA-dependent DNA polymerase), is a DNA polymerase enzyme that transcribes single-stranded RNA into DNA.
  • This enzyme is able to synthesize a double helix DNA once the RNA has been reverse transcribed in a first step into a single-strand DNA.
• Discovery: It was discovered in the labs of Howard Temin and David Baltimore in the vesicular stomatitis virus ( A Retrovirus). They found a protein called RNA polymerase, which  was involved in reverse-translating RNA to DNA.
  • Reverse Transcriptase  is found along many eukaryotic and prokaryotic systems like telomerase, retrotransposons, retrons, and are found abundantly in the genomes of plants and animals.
• Published In: The findings were published in the journal Nature.
• Significance: 
  • Established Bidirectional flow of information: The discoveries  showed information could flow the other way, too, with RNA giving rise to DNA.
    • The prevailing belief at the time was that in all living beings, hereditary information flowed only from DNA to RNA and from RNA to protein (ie. the ‘Central Dogma’). 
  • Fundamental Role in Evolution of life: The discovery of reverse transcriptase activity across the different domains of life signifies the fundamental role of the enzyme  in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems as well as a remarkable evolutionary continuity and functional versatility.
• Scope: The Reverse Transcriptase technology has a huge potential for,
  • Biotechnology Applications: Innovative  applications in biotechnology and medicine, especially in the context of emerging antimicrobial resistance (the ability of disease-causing microbes to resist the effects of substances designed to incapacitate or kill them)

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• • New Therapeutic and Diagnostic Strategies: It could reveal novel mechanisms of genetic evolution and viral resistance, potentially leading to new therapeutic strategies and biotechnological tools.

• Impacts

  • Revolutionized research methods: The discovery revolutionized research in molecular biology, where researchers could reverse-transcribe messenger RNAs to pieces of DNA, clone that DNA into bacterial vectors, and study the function of the corresponding genes.
  •  Revolutionized diagnostics method: Clinicians used reverse transcriptase to convert RNA to DNA and estimate the amount of viral material in a given sample.
    • Application: In the study of RNA viruses, including hepatitis B and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
  • Disease management: The discovery aided the management and treatment of HIV AIDS infections in the 1980s as it led to the development of antiviral agents specifically targeting  the reverse transcriptase enzyme.
  • Shaping the Human Genome: Retroelements in the human genome and bacterial reverse transcriptases have a common evolutionary history as well as share functional mechanisms. 
    • Bacterial reverse transcriptases are believed to be the precursors of their eukaryotic (human) counterparts and the first reverse transcriptase in bacteria was discovered in 1989.
  • Cornerstone  of Molecular Diagnostics: The RT enzyme facilitated  rapid and accurate testing of the SARS COV2 virus  along with genome-sequencing  helped track the virus’s spread, paving the way for surveillance, better public healthcare, and vaccine development.

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