A 27-amino-acid deletion in the neuraminidase stalk supports replication of an avian H2N2 influenza A virus in the respiratory tract of chickens.

ABSTRACT: The events and mechanisms that lead to interspecies transmission of, and host adaptation to, influenza A virus are unknown; however, both surface and internal proteins have been implicated. Our previous report highlighted the role that Japanese quail play as an intermediate host, expanding the host range of a mallard H2N2 virus, A/mallard/Potsdam/178-4/83 (H2N2), through viral adaptation. This quail-adapted virus supported transmission in quail and increased its host range to replicate and be transmitted efficiently in chickens. Here we report that of the six amino acid changes in the quail-adapted virus, a single change in the hemagglutinin (HA) was crucial for transmission in quail, while the changes in the polymerase genes favored replication at lower temperatures than those for the wil

SUBMITTER: Sorrell EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2977859 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature