Figure 9

Schematic conceptual representation of viral RNA (i) and protein (ii) quasispecies and the concentrations of specific viral polypeptides of that quasispecies (iii) as a dynamic function of polymerase fidelity and the relationship to the threshold of immunological response (TIR). During low fidelity replication (A) the viral genetic and phenotypic diversity of the viral quasispecies is high, resulting in a broad spectrum of viral protein phenotypes with relatively low concentrations of each specific individual viral polypeptide sequence (coloured bars). During high fidelity replication (B), perhaps induced by IFN/ribavirin, RNA and protein sequences diverge less from the consensus sequence resulting in higher concentrations of individual proteins, particularly consensus sequences (green bars), that trigger immune responses if their concentration exceeds TIR.