Role of Intergenic and 3'-Proximal Noncoding Regions in Coat Protein Expression and Replication of Barley yellow dwarf virus PAV

Barley yellow dwarf virus PAV (BYDV-PAV) has a 5.7-kb positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome that contains six open reading frames (ORFs). BYDV-PAV produces three subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs). The largest of which encodes the coat, 17-kDa, and readthrough proteins from two initiation codons. To investigate the role of intergenic and 3'-proximal noncoding regions (NCRs) in coat protein (CP) expression and BYDV-PAV replication, a full-length infectious cDNA of the RNA genome of an Illinois isolate of BYDV-PAV was constructed downstream of the Cauliflower mosaic virus-35S promoter. Linear DNA molecules of these cDNAs were infectious, expressed the 22-kDa CP, and produced both genomic RNA sgRNAs in ratios similar to those observed in protoplasts inoculated with viral RNA. The portion of 5'NCR of sgRNA1 between ORFs 2 and 3 was not required for, but enhanced translation of CP from ORF3. Mutants containing deletions in the NCR downstream of ORF5 failed to replicate in oat protoplasts. These results indicate that an intact 3$^1$NCR is required for BYDV-PAV replication.