Figure 4.

The NS5_357E-carrying viruses exhibit increased virus replication advantages at low temperatures

We assessed the virus replication capacity of infectious clone-derived DENV-2 viruses carrying various combinations of early/late epidemic signatures in C6/36 cells at different temperatures, including 28°C (A), 24°C (B), and 20°C (C). The cells were infected with DENV-2 viruses at a MOI of 0.1, and culture supernatants were collected at 4 d.p.i. All experiments were performed with four independent replicates. Virus titers are presented as means ± SDs in the left panels (bar charts). Statistical analysis comparing each variant with Ia was performed using one-way ANOVA. Relative viral loads, compared with the parental Ia virus, are illustrated as means and ranges in the right panels (boxes). Differences between each variant and Ia were assessed using Student’s t test. Significance levels are indicated as ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, and ∗∗∗p < 0.001.