Nucleotide Sequence of the Capsid and Nuclear Inclusion Protein Genes from the Johnson Grass Strain of Sugarcane Mosaic Virus RNA

Abstract

The nucleotide sequence of the 3'' terminal 1782 nucleotides of sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) genome has been determined. There is an open reading frame, from the 5'' end, of 1307 nucleotides upstream from a 475 nucleotide 3'' non-coding region that is polyadenylated. The open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of 435 amino acids. The segment of the genome encoding the viral capsid protein (mol. wt. 34200) is adjacent to the 3'' non-coding region. The predicted capsid protein is similar in sequence to the capsid protein sequence predicted for tobacco etch virus (TEV). Part of another protein encoded in the same reading frame, similar to the predicted nuclear inclusion protein from TEV, has been identified upstream from the coat protein gene. The results indicate that the genome of SCMV encodes one or more large proteins that are processed to the mature proteins.