Three 'triple gene block' proteins known as TGBp1, TGBp2 and TGBp3 are required for cell-tocell movement of plant viruses belonging to a number of genera including Hordeivirus. Hordeiviral TGBp1 interacts with viral genomic RNAs to form ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes competent for translocation between cells through plasmodesmata and over long distances via the phloem. Binding of hordeivirus TGBp1 to RNA involves two protein regions, the C-terminal NTPase/ helicase domain and the N-terminal extension region. This study demonstrated that the extension region of hordeivirus TGBp1 consists of two structurally and functionally distinct domains called the N-terminal domain (NTD) and the internal domain (ID). In agreement with secondary structure predictions, analysis of circular dichroism spectra of the isolated NTD and ID demonstrated that the NTD represents a natively unfolded protein domain, whereas the ID has a pronounced secondary structure. Both the NTD and ID were able to bind ssRNA non-specifically. However, whilst the NTD interacted with ssRNA non-cooperatively, the ID bound ssRNA in a cooperative manner. Additionally, both domains bound dsRNA. The NTD and ID formed low-molecular-mass oligomers, whereas the ID also gave rise to high-molecular-mass complexes. The isolated ID was able to interact with both the NTD and the C-terminal NTPase/helicase domain in solution. These data demonstrate that the hordeivirus TGBp1 has three RNA-binding domains and that interaction between these structural units can provide a basis for remodelling of viral RNP complexes at different steps of cell-to-cell and long-distance transport of virus infection. INTRODUCTIONTransport of plant viruses from cell to cell occurs through plasmodesmata and requires virus-encoded movement proteins (Boevink & Oparka, 2005;Lucas, 2006;Epel, 2009). In the genus Hordeivirus, viral movement proteins are represented by three proteins encoded by a 'triple gene block' (TGB) and referred to as TGBp1, TGBp2 and TGBp3 (Solovyev et al., 1996). The TGB is a conserved module of overlapping genes found in a number of virus groups (Morozov & Solovyev, 2003). Hordeivirus TGBp1 binds viral genomic RNA forming a cell-to-cell transportcompetent complex (Brakke et al., 1988;Kalinina et al., 2001;Lim et al., 2008;Jackson et al., 2009). TGBp2 and TGBp3 are small membrane proteins necessary for intracellular transport of complexes containing TGBp1 and viral RNA to plasmodesmata (Morozov & Solovyev, 2003;Zamyatnin et al., 2004; Haupt et al., 2005;Jackson et al., 2009 Lim et al., 2008;Jackson et al., 2009). Such TGBp1-RNA complexes are considered to be a form of viral genome capable of cell-to-cell and long-distance transport in plants (Morozov & Solovyev, 2003;Lim et al., 2008). In potex-like TGBs, the whole TGBp1 sequence is represented by the NTPase/helicase domain (HELD) with seven conserved motifs of the superfamily 1 NTPases/helicases (Gorbalenya et al., 1989), whereas the hordei-like TGBp1 has an additional N-terminal 'extension region' (Morozov & Solovyev, ...