Cell Type-Dependent RNA Recombination Frequency in the Japanese Encephalitis Virus

Figure 2

RNA recombination between genomic RNA and a transfected RNA sequence. No fragment was seen in tests with RNA extracted from cells following mock treatment (with neither infection nor transfection), virus infection only, or transfection only. Although amplification of a 564 bp fragment showing RNA recombination was present in the control group which contained a mixture of RNAs extracted from infected and transfected cells, RNA recombination was significantly elevated in BHK-21 and C6/36 cells infected by the Japanese encephalitis virus (Nakayama strain) following transfection with the (+)5′3′-UTR-I plasmid RNA. According to the image-density analysis, it seems that RNA recombination occurred less frequently in mosquito cells. A specific fragment of viral RNA (529 bp) was used as an internal control in all groups with viral infection.