Hepatitis B virus (HBV), the causative agent of B-type hepatitis in humans, is the type
member of the Hepadnaviridae, hepatotropic DNA viruses that replicate via reverse
transcription. Beyond long-established differences to retroviruses in gene expression and
overall replication strategy newer work has uncovered additional distinctions in the
mechanism of reverse transcription per se. These include protein-priming by the unique
extra terminal protein domain of the reverse transcriptase (RT) utilizing an RNA hairpin for …