Fig 6. Variable regions exhibit high flexibility.

Shannon entropy provides a measure of diversity with high values indicating low conservation. A. H77 E2 model color-coded for Shannon entropy; variable regions have high values. B. H77 E2 model color-coded for RMSF; variable regions exhibit high flexibility. C. E2 residues from H77, 1b09 and J6 were classified being in regions of high flexibility (RMSF ≥3Å) or low flexibility (RMSF <3Å). For each strain, residues within regions of high flexibility exhibited significantly higher Shannon entropy (Mann-Whitney test, p <0.0001, GraphPad Prism). Shannon entropy was calculated using E2 protein alignments for HCV genotype 1 (H77 and 1b09) and 2 (J6).