Drought response strategies are coupled with leaf habit in 35 evergreen and deciduous oak (Quercus) species across a climatic gradient in the Americas.

Distinct survival strategies can result from trade-offs in plant function under contrasting environments. Investment in drought resistance mechanisms can enhance survivorship but result in conservative growth. We tested the hypothesis that the widespread oaks (Quercus spp.

Generating West Nile Virus from an Infectious Clone.

WNV infectious clones are valuable tools for elucidating WNV biology. Nevertheless, relatively few infectious WNV clones have been generated because their construction is hampered by the instability of flaviviral genomes. More recently, advances in cloning techniques as well as the development of several two-plasmid WNV infectious clone systems have facilitated the generation of WNV infectious clones.

Hepatitis E virus inhibits type I interferon induction by ORF1 products.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes both endemic and epidemic human hepatitis by fecal-oral transmission in many parts of the world. Zoonotic transmission of HEV from animals to humans has been reported. Due to the lack of an efficient cell culture system, the molecular mechanisms of HEV infection remain largely unknown.

In vitro and in vivo characterization of a West Nile virus MAD78 infectious clone.

The viral determinants governing the varied neuropathogenicity of different West Nile virus (WNV) strains are poorly understood. Here, we generated an infectious clone (WNV-MAD(IC)) of the non-pathogenic strain WNV-MAD78 and compared its replication to that of parental WNV-MAD78 and a WNV-MAD78 infectious clone (WNV-MAD(TX-UTRs)) containing the 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of the pathogenic strain WNV-TX. All three viruses replicated at similar rates and caused similar lethality in mice.