Weak Palindromic Consensus Sequences Are a Common Feature Found at the Integration Target Sites of Many Retroviruses

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Abstract
Integration into the host genome is one of the hallmarks of the retroviral life cycle and is catalyzed by virus-encoded integrases. While integrase has strict sequence requirements for the viral DNA ends, target site sequences have been shown to be very diverse. We carefully examined a large number of integration target site sequences from several retroviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1, simian immunodeficiency virus, murine leukemia virus, and avian sarcoma-leukosis virus, and found that a statistical palindromic consensus, centered on the virus-specific duplicated target site sequence, was a common feature at integration target sites for these retroviruses.