📄 Bovine coronavirus I protein synthesis follows ribosomal scanning on the bicistronic N mRNA

The mRNA encoding the 49-kDa nucleocapsid protein (N) of the bovine coronavirus is bicistronic. A 23-kDa protein, termed the I protein for the 'internal' open reading frame (ORF), is also synthesized but in the +1 reading frame beginning 61 nt downstream of the N start codon. Sequences flanking the N and I start codons suggest that the I ORF might be accessed by scanning ribosomes passing over the N start codon. Here we test this idea and demonstrate with translation studies both in vitro and in vivo that the I protein is synthesized according to the leaky scanning model for initiation of translation on the subgenomic N mRNA molecule.

keywords 🔗 bovine coronavirus (221) 🔗 reading frame (222) 🔗 nucleocapsid protein (162) 🔗 open reading (215)

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