RNA 2 of beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) carries six open reading frames. The four 3' proximal frames encode the proteins P42, P13, P15, and P14. The first three species present homologies to proteins encoded by three overlapping open reading frames (the triple gene block) in potexviruses, carlaviruses, and barley stripe mosaic virus. P14 does not display homology with other known plant viral proteins. The functions of P42, P13, P15, and P14 were investigated by site-directed mutagenesis. Full-length transcripts of wild-type BNYVV RNAs 1 and 2 were infectious when coinoculated to protoplasts or leaves of Chenopodium quinoa. RNA 2 transcripts in which P42, P13, and P15 were prematurely terminated by frameshift mutations replicated in protoplasts (when inoculated with wild-type RNA 1) but were not infectious to leaves, indicating that the triple gene block proteins of BNYVV are essential for viral cell-to-cell spread. Mutations in P14 were not lethal in leaf infections but smaller local lesions and lesser amounts of viral RNA were produced. RNA 2-related subgenomic RNA species of 2.6, 1.4, and 0.7 kb were detected; they presumably direct synthesis of P42, P13, and P14. No species of the length predicted for a P15-specific subgenomic RNA was detected.