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Compact organization of the hepatitis B virus genome
Author(s) -
Miller Roger H.,
Kaneko Shuichi,
Chung Cathie T.,
Girones Rosina,
Purcell Robert H.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840090226
Subject(s) - genome , hepatitis b virus , biology , virology , hepatitis b virus pre beta , virus , genetics , dna , hepadnaviridae , dna virus , gene , computational biology , hepatitis b virus dna polymerase
The genome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a circular DNA molecule approximately 3,200 base pairs (bp) in length. Relative to other double‐stranded DNA viruses capable of independent replication, HBV possesses the smallest genome of any virus known to infect man. Therefore, it is not surprising that HBV utilizes its genetic material economically. This is accomplished by two rare genetic arrangements: proteins are encoded from overlapping translation frames, and all regulatory signal sequences reside within protein‐encoding sequences. Thus, HBV obtains multiple use from many regions of its genome, which underscores the sophistication of this virus from an evolutionary standpoint.