BECN1 and microcephaly: In the present study, a decrease in the expression of microcephaly genes was also detected in brains of Becn1+/+ pups born to ZIKV-R103451-infected dams, which could explain the observed the loss in neurons in postmortem brains recovered from pups born to infected dams (Figure 3), while attenuated Beclin1 expression further exacerbated the pathology (Figure 3E).