Analysis of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) polyadenylation (poly(A)) signal has revealed several striking differences to poly(A) signals from animal genes such as the absence of activating sequences downstream from the cleavage site. Instead, upstream sequences were shown to induce recognition of an AAUAAA sequence. To test whether these features are representative of other plant pararetrovirus poly(A) signals, a characterization of the figwort mosaic virus (FMV) poly(A) signal is presented here. The FMV RNAs were isolated from infected plants and mapped, and the different elements composing the FMV poly(A) signal were identified. Multiple upstream sequences were found to be essential for efficient processing at the FMV poly(A) site and could be replaced by the CaMV upstream elements. The FMV upstream sequences showed homologies to other characterized upstream sequences from CaMV, from animal viruses, and from plant poly(A) signals. Surprisingly, neither the FMV nor the CaMV upstream elements could induce recognition of an AAUAAA sequence present in the FMV poly(A) signal, instead a UAUAAA sequence 55 nucleotides further downstream was utilized. It is proposed that additional features may be required for appropriate cleavage such as the context of the AAUAAA-like sequence or perhaps the cleavage site itself.