The evolutionary rates of CDRs and FWRs of the three lineages decrease over time.

<p>The mean and 95% highest probability density interval (HPD) are shown for each stage. Stages from the same chain of a lineage are connected to reveal longitudinal trend. The plots of CDR regions are colored magenta while plots of FWRs are colored blue. (A) The mean evolutionary rates for the CDRs and FWRs of the VRC26 heavy (left) and light (right) chains showed about 80% decrease over the study period. (B) The mean evolutionary rate dynamics for the CDRs and FWRs of the CH103 heavy (left) and light (right) chains showed about 45% decrease over the study period. (C) Evolutionary rate dynamics for the CDRs and FWRs of the VRC01 clade 03+06 heavy (left) and light (right) chains showed about 45% decrease over the study period. But the evolutionary rate decrease for light chain CDRs is not significant. (D) Evolutionary rate dynamics for the CDRs and FWRs of the clade 08 heavy (left) and light (right) chains. The decreases in evolutionary rates are only significant for both regions in heavy chain. (E) and (F) show evolutionary rate dynamics for the CDRs and FWRs of the VRC01 clade H3 and L3, respectively. No significant decrease in evolutionary rate was detected for the two clades.