FIG. 2.

Replication fitness of chimeric replicons containing patient-derived NS5B sequences. The NS5B sequences from genotype 1a (open bars) and 1b (solid bars) HCV-infected patients were cloned into the Con1 subgenomic replicons. The NS5B sequence from the BK strain was also cloned in the Con1 replicon to produce the BK/Con1 chimeric replicon. Huh7.5 cells were electroporated with in vitro transcripts of chimeric replicons, seeded in 96-well plates at 6 × 10⁴/well, and cultured for 3 days before hRLuc activity was determined. The replication fitness of the parental Con1 replicon is designated 100%. Results represent the average of triplicate values, with error bars showing standard deviations.