Nucleotide sequence of narcissus mosaic virus RNA.

The nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of narcissus mosaic virus (NMV) was deduced from a set of cDNA clones and by direct sequencing of RNA. The genome, with a length of 6955 nucleotides [excluding the 3'poly(A) tail], contains six open reading frames (ORFs) with the capacity to code for polypeptides of more than 10K, with Mr values of 186284, 25845, 13998, 11059, 26097 and 10519. The first five of these putative proteins show considerable homology to similar proteins encoded by the RNAs of potato virus X (PVX, 6435 nucleotides) and white clover mosaic virus (WClMV, 5845 nucleotides). The sixth ORF is completely overlapped by the Mr 26097 coat protein cistron and has some homology with a similar ORF in WClMV RNA. The difference in length of the RNAs of NMV, PVX and WClMV is due to a non-homologous domain of variable length in the central region of the 5'-proximal ORF of the three viruses.