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. 2012 Mar 12;7(3):e33007. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033007

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of Alphavirus detection using defective XJ-160 replicons.

Figure 3

Due to the deletion in the non-structural protein coding region, the defective XJ-160 replicons (pVaXJ-EGFPΔ nsp4 and pVaXJ-GLucΔ nsp4) failed to express the reporter genes efficiently. When cells were infected with alphavirus, the alphavirus synthesized the viral non-structural proteins, and these proteins acted on the defective XJ-160 replicons in trans, resulting in high-level expression of the reporter genes, which could be easily measured.