FIG. 2.

Effect of single nucleotide mutations in CS on WNV RNA replication. (A) Schematic representation of WNR RNA structure. The nucleotide sequences of mutant CS are indicated next to their respective names. Boxes indicate the eight nucleotides that are 100% conserved among all mosquito-borne flaviviruses. Nucleotide substitutions in the 5′ CS and 3′ CS are in lower case. (B) RNA replication of WT and mutant replicons in BHK cells. Averages of triplicate relative luciferase activities at 2 days posttransfection were normalized to that at 5 h, and the WT control value was set to 100%; error bars show standard deviations. The experiment was repeated at least twice, producing similar results.