biostudies-literatureUnknown7(12)Cimino PATranslational readthrough of stop codons by ribosomes is a recoding event used by a variety of viruses, including plus-strand RNA tombusviruses. Translation of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) in tombusviruses is mediated using this strategy and we have investigated this process using a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches. Our results indicate that readthrough generating the RdRp requires a novel long-range RNA-RNA interaction, spanning a distance of ∼3.5 kb, which occurs between a large RNA stem-loop located 3'-proximal to the stop codon and an RNA replication structure termed RIV at the 3'-end of the viral genome. Interestingly, this long-distance RNA-RNA interaction is modulated by mutually-exclusive RNA structures in RIV that represent a type of RNA switch. MoreoverPLoS pathogense1002423https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3234231biostudies-literatureMultifaceted regulation of translational readthrough by RNA replication elements in a tombusvirus.PMC3234231White KANicholson BLCimino PAWu BXu WfalseMultifaceted regulation of translational readthrough by RNA replication elements in a tombusvirus.Translational readthrough of stop codons by ribosomes is a recoding event used by a variety of viruses, including plus-strand RNA tombusviruses. Translation of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) in tombusviruses is mediated using this strategy and we have investigated this process using a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches. Our results indicate that readthrough generating the RdRp requires a novel long-range RNA-RNA interaction, spanning a distance of ∼3.5 kb, which occurs between a large RNA stem-loop located 3'-proximal to the stop codon and an RNA replication structure termed RIV at the 3'-end of the viral genome. Interestingly, this long-distance RNA-RNA interaction is modulated by mutually-exclusive RNA structures in RIV that represent a type of RNA switch. Moreover2011-01-01T00:00:00Z2011 Dec2026-04-07T18:55:48.041Z2019-03-27T00:46:51ZS-EPMC32342312217468310.1371/journal.ppat.1002423