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. 2014 Jan;88(1):154–163. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01916-13

FIG 1.

FIG 1

Reverse transcription of the HBV genome. The pgRNA (dashed line) serves as a template for minus-strand DNA synthesis and contains 11-nt direct repeats (DR1 and DR2; open boxes) and epsilon stem-loop structures (ε). The oval represents HBV Pol protein. (A) The Pol protein initiates reverse transcription from the 5′ ε. The newly synthesized nascent minus-strand DNA (thick gray line) switches template to the 3′ copy of DR1. (B) Following the minus-strand template switch, the minus-strand DNA is extended, while RNase H activity of the Pol protein degrades the pgRNA. (C) A small RNA segment, which contains DR1, resulting from the RNase H activity of the Pol protein, is used as an RNA primer for plus-strand DNA synthesis. (D) The RNA primer then switches template from DR1 to DR2 and resumes the plus-strand DNA synthesis (thick black line). (E) To generate the mature RC DNA, growing plus-strand DNA switches templates from the 5′ end to the 3′ end of the minus-strand DNA. (F) Alternatively, the plus-strand DNA synthesis (i.e., in situ priming) initiates at DR1, resulting in DL DNA.