FIG 6.

SL750 is a highly conserved structural element. A total of 3,326 HCV sequences from the HCV database of the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov) were analyzed. (Top) Each nucleotide of SL750 was labeled with color according to its conservation in base pairing, and base-pairing nucleotides in more than 90% of HCV strains are highlighted in gray. (Bottom) Frequencies of base pairing at each position of the left arm (L), the right arm (R), and the central arm (C) of SL750 as well as detailed information on major and minor base pairings.