Many plant viruses without 5=caps or 3= poly(A) tails contain 3= proximal, cap-independent translation enhancers (3=CITEs) that bind to ribosomal subunits or translation factors thought to assist in ribosome recruitment. Most 3=CITEs participate in a longdistance kissing-loop interaction with a 5= proximal hairpin to deliver ribosomal subunits to the 5= end for translation initiation. Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) contains two adjacent 3=CITEs in the center of its 703-nucleotide 3= untranslated region (3=UTR), the ribosome-binding, kissing-loop T-shaped structure (kl-TSS) and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding Panicum mosaic virus-like translation enhance (PTE). We now report that PEMV contains a third, independent 3=CITE located near the 3= terminus. This 3=CITE is composed of three hairpins and two pseudoknots, similar to the TSS 3=CITE of the carmovirus Turnip crinkle virus (TCV). As with the TCV TSS, the PEMV 3=TSS is predicted to fold into a T-shaped structure that binds to 80S ribosomes and 60S ribosomal subunits. A small hairpin (kl-H) upstream of the 3=TSS contains an apical loop capable of forming a kissing-loop interaction with a 5= proximal hairpin and is critical for the accumulation of full-length PEMV in protoplasts. Although the kl-H and 3=TSS are dispensable for the translation of a reporter construct containing the complete PEMV 3=UTR in vitro, deleting the normally required kl-TSS and PTE 3=CITEs and placing the kl-H and 3=TSS proximal to the reporter termination codon restores translation to near wild-type levels. This suggests that PEMV requires three 3=CITEs for proper translation and that additional translation enhancers may have been missed if reporter constructs were used in 3=CITE identification.
IMPORTANCEThe rapid life cycle of viruses requires efficient translation of viral-encoded proteins. Many plant RNA viruses contain 3= capindependent translation enhancers (3=CITEs) to effectively compete with ongoing host translation. Since only single 3=CITEs have been identified for the vast majority of individual viruses, it is widely accepted that this is sufficient for a virus's translational needs. Pea enation mosaic virus possesses a ribosome-binding 3=CITE that can connect to the 5= end through an RNA-RNA interaction and an adjacent eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding 3=CITE. We report the identification of a third 3=CITE that binds weakly to ribosomes and requires an upstream hairpin to form a bridge between the 3= and 5= ends. Although both ribosome-binding 3=CITEs are critical for virus accumulation in vivo, only the CITE closest to the termination codon of a reporter open reading frame is active, suggesting that artificial constructs used for 3=CITE identification may underestimate the number of CITEs that participate in translation.