A sequence similar to tRNA3Lys gene is embedded in HIV-1 U3–R and promotes minus-strand transfer

During the HIV-1 life cycle, the tRNA3Lys from the host cell serves as a primer for reverse transcription and to facilitate strand transfer to the 3′ region of the viral RNA. Now a long insertion with similarity to the tRNA3Lys gene is identified in the 3′ region of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV, but not the more distant FIV, and shown to play a role in strand transfer in vitro.