Maintaining the structural integrity of the bamboo mosaic virus 3′ untranslated region is necessary for retaining the catalytic constant for minus-strand RNA synthesis

Background Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) and the Potato virus X (PVX) are members of the genus Potexvirus and have a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome. The 3′-untranslated region (UTR) of the BaMV RNA genome was mapped structurally into ABC (a cloverleaf-like), D (a stem-loop), and E (pseudoknot) domains. The BaMV replicase complex that was isolated from the infected plants was able to recognize the 3′ UTR of PVX RNA to initiate minus-strand RNA synthesis in vitro.