Nucleotide sequence of a viral RNA fragment that binds to eukaryotic ribosomes.

The nucleotide sequence has been determined for the first 53 bases of brome mosaic virus RNA4, the monocistronic messenger for brome mosaic virus coat protein. The sequence includes the binding site for wheat embryo ribosomes. The 5'-terminal base is a modified guanosine attached to the penultimate base through a 5' p-p-p 5' link. The initiating AUG codon is only 10 nucleotides from the 5'-terminus. The triplets following the AUG codon correspond to the known sequence of brome mosaic virus coat protein.