Enhancing effect of the 3'-untranslated region of tobacco mosaic virus RNA on protein synthesis in vitro.

In order to test the enhancing effect of the 3'-terminal untranslated region (3'-UTR) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) RNA on protein synthesis in vitro we used a chimeric mRNA construct containing TMV 5'-UTR (omega) and firefly luciferase mRNA. The addition of the TMV 3'-UTR to the chimeric mRNA construct results in a more than 3-fold stimulation of the synthesis of the functionally active protein in the wheat germ cell-free translation system. We have demonstrated that the proper length of the TMV 3'-terminal part is important for efficient translation; elongation of the TMV tail by 160 vector-derived nucleotides fully abolishes the stimulation effect of the TMV 3'-UTR in vitro.