Figure 1.

Mapping the region containing regulatory elements of the C gene of ZIKV. (A) Schematic representation of ZIKV-NS3m infectious clone (on top of (A)), which was used to construct a panel of viruses with chimeric C gene sequence (on the bottom of (A)). White boxes represent wt sequence of ZIKV-NS3m. Gray boxes (C opt) represent sequences that were mutated by synonymous substitutions. (B) Growth kinetics of viruses with chimeric C gene sequence in Vero cells after plasmid DNA transfection. Mean viral titer ± standard deviations in the samples that were collected daily from duplicate flasks were determined by titration in Vero cells. Dotted line (the one right above the blue C6 line) represents limit of virus detection (0.7 log₁₀ pfu/mL). Differences between growth of ZIKV-NS3m and that of the other constructs were compared using two-way ANOVA (**** p < 0.0001; ns—not significant, p > 0.05).