COMPLETE SEQUENCE OF MAIZE STRIPE VIRUS RNA4 AND MAPPING OF ITS SUBGENOMIC RNAS

The complete nucleotide sequence of maize stripe virus RNA4 was determined and found to consist of 2227 nucleotides containing two significant open reading frames. One, in the 5' end of the viral RNA, encodes the major non-capsid protein of M(r) 19815. The other is located in the 5' end of the viral complementary RNA and could encode a protein of M(r) 31 900. This protein has not been identified previously and has been designated NS4, a non-structural protein. RNA-RNA hybridization detected subgenomic RNAs encoding these proteins, a characteristic of RNA possessing an ambisense gene organization.