Summary of the infectivity of mutated chimeric GB/IIIHC genomes in vivo and sequencing of corresponding viruses

aCombinations of nucleotide substitutions introduced into chimeric genome GB/IIIHC in the indicated genomic regions (—: no substitution). Numbering refers to nucleotide position within genome-length GBV-B RNA. Substitutions U2376C and U7152C lead to amino acid changes Ile644Thr and Val2236Ala, respectively.bThe infectivity of mutated chimeric RNAs was assessed by intrahepatic inoculation of corresponding synthetic RNAs into 1 or 2 tamarins and was scored “+” when viremia developed according to wild-type-like profile and peak viremia was ≥3.5×107 ge/mL, “+/−” when viremia was sporadic and ≤2.5×104 ge/mL, and “−” when viremia remained negative or ≤1.5×103 ge/mL at 1–2 scattered time points.cMutations additionally found in the corresponding chimeric viruses rescued in vivo (numbering in the 5′NTR refers to nucleotide position within the chimeric GBV-B/HCV 5′NTR). Substitutions G5225A and C5226U lead to amino acid changes Ala1594Thr and Ala1594Val, respectively. —: no mutation was found in the sequenced regions. NA: not applicable, either because there was no virus rescued or because the viral titers were too low to proceed to sequencing.