FIG. 4.

Reporting replicons of WNV containing mutations or deletions of the CS elements. The terminal regions of the wild-type (WT) RlucRep have been enlarged to display the 5′CS within the capsid coding sequence and the CS1, CS2, RCS2, CS3, and RCS3 within the 3′ UTR. The potential base pairing between the 5′CS and CS1 is depicted. Rluc-CS1* and Rluc-5′CS* contained six nucleotide changes (indicated in lower case) in the CS1 and 5′CS, respectively, which disrupted the potential 5′CS/CS1 interaction. Rluc-CS2-del, Rluc-RCS2-del, Rluc-CS3-del, and Rluc-RCS3-del contained deletions of individual CS elements as indicated. Rluc-RCS3/RCS2-del contained a large truncation between the MluI and SacII sites. Mutated regions are indicated by dotted lines and are specified in the right column.