In order to test the enhancing effect of the 3′-terminal untranslated region (3′-UTR) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) RNA on protein synthesis in vitro we used a chimeric mRNA construct containing TMV 5′-UTR (Ω) and firefly luciferase mRNA. The addition of the TMV 3′-UTR to the chimeric mRNA construct results in a more than 3-fold stimulation of the synthesis of the functionally active protein in the wheat germ cell-free translation system. We have demonstrated that the proper length of the TMV 3′-terminal part is important for efficient translation; elongation of the TMV tail by 160 vector-derived nucleotides fully abolishes the stimulation effect of the TMV 3′-UTR in vitro.
