Figure 6.

Rank ordered bar chart of 121 p24 class I HLA epitopes according to the computed energy penalty, Δ<E>, imposed upon the viral ensemble. The particular epitopes considered are listed in Table S2. Epitopes associated with a reported immunodominant response within a particular HLA class I allele (Streeck et al., 2009) are designated by colored bars and labeled with the epitope location and HLA association. Red bars indicate that the corresponding HLA allele has been linked with enhanced HIV control, whereas blue bars denote those that have not (Miura et al., 2009; Pereyra et al., 2010; Trachtenberg & Erlich, 2001). The immunodominance data pertaining to the B*57 KF11 epitope Gag_162-172were assumed to also apply to the epitope formed from its nine residue subset, Gag_164-172. Six of the seven immunodominant epitopes leading to the greatest fitness cost are associated with protective HLA alleles; the dashed line at Δ<E> = 1.54 represents the cutoff above which all immunodominant responses are associated with protective alleles.