Open AccessThe Overall Evolution of the H7 Influenza Virus Haemagglutinins is Different from the Evolution of the Proteolytic Cleavage Site
Author(s) -
Franz X. Bosch,
Volker von Hoyningen-Huene,
C. Scholtissek,
R. Rott
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of general virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1465-2099
pISSN - 0022-1317
DOI - 10.1099/0022-1317-61-1-101
Subject(s) - biology , virology , cleavage (geology) , virus , highly pathogenic , pathogenicity , influenza a virus subtype h5n1 , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , virulence , genetics , paleontology , fracture (geology)
It has been shown previously that the pathogenicity of avian influenza A viruses depends strictly on the proteolytic cleavability of their haemagglutinins (HAs) in infected cells. In this communication, pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains of the H7 subtype have been studied by comparing the genetic relatedness of their HA genes. Some of the cleavable HAs of pathogenic strains were genetically more closely related to the uncleaved HAs than to other cleavable HAs. These data clearly demonstrate that the overall evolution of the H7 haemagglutinins is different from the evolution of the specific cleavage site.