Nucleotide sequence and RNA hybridization analyses reveal an ambisense coding strategy for maize stripe virus RNA3.

The 2357-nt sequence of maize stripe virus (MStV) RNA3 was determined. Two nonoverlapping open reading frames (ORFs) of opposite polarities are contained in RNA3. A 591-nt ORF is located near the 5' end of MStV RNA3, while a second ORF of 948 nt is located near the 3' end in the viral complementary RNA (vcRNA). In vitro translation of transcripts derived from cDNA clones representing regions of each ORF was used to identify the respective proteins. A ca. 22,000 Mr protein was translated from the 591-nt ORF transcript. This protein comigrated in SDS-PAGE with a protein produced by in vitro translation of MStV RNA and is referred to as the NS3 protein. The protein from the 948-nt ORF transcript was specifically immunoprecipitated by antiserum to the MStV nucleocapsid protein (N protein). RNA hybridization analyses identified two subgenomic RNAs in total RNA extracts from MStV-infected Zea mays plants. These RNAs are ca. 650 and 1350 nt in size, are of opposite polarities, and correspond to regions of RNA3 containing the two ORFs. These data suggest that MStV RNA3 has an ambisense coding strategy similar to that found for the S RNA of the vertebrate-infecting phleboviruses, uukuviruses, and arenaviruses, as for tomato spotted wilt virus.