Inhibition of RNase H activity and viral replication by single mutations in the 3' region of Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase

Selected conserved amino acids in the putative RNase H domain of reverse transcriptase (RT) were modified in a molecularly cloned infectious provirus and in a Moloney murine leukemia virus RT expression vector by site-directed mutagenesis. Substitution of either of two conserved aspartic acid residues in proviral DNA prevented production of infectious particles in transfected NIH 3T3 cells, and the same modifications depressed RT-associated RNase H activity by more than 25-fold with little or no effect on polymerase activity.