Translation of the RNAs of brome mosaic virus: The monocistronic nature of RNA1 and RNA2

Each of the two largest brome mosaic virus RNAs, RNA1 and RNA2, directs the synthesis of a large protein in cell-free extracts derived from wheat embryo. The size of each protein represents the translation of almost the entire length of the corresponding RNA. It was shown previously that brome mosaic virus RNA4 directs the synthesis of the coat protein and that brome mosaic virus RNA3, although it also contains the coat protein cistron, is translated mostly into a single product unrelated to the coat protein (Shih & Kaesberg, 1973). Thus, the brome mosaic virus genome encodes a total of four proteins.