Abstract 1774 Non-Coding RNA Structures in Blackcurrant Reversion Virus Important for Translation

RNA viruses often lack the 5′ methylated guanosine cap structure cellular mRNAs use to initiate translation, requiring alternative methods for ribosome recruitment. Plant viruses employ a cap-independent translation enhancer (CITE) at the 3′ end of the genome, which uses RNA structure to recruit initiation factors and facilitates their delivery to the genome's 5′ end through an RNA-RNA interaction. The Blackcurrant Reversion Virus (BRV) is a bipartite plant virus with CITEs in both the RNA-1 and RNA-2 genomes, yet the structure and function of each are unknown.