title: Genetic conservation of hemagglutinin gene of H9 influenza virus in chicken population in Mainland China.
abstract: The hemagglutinin (HA) genes of 12 H9N2 influenza virus strains isolated from chickens in Mainland China during the period 1995-2002 were genetically analyzed. All the isolates possessed the same amino acid motif -R-S-S-R/G-L- at the cleavage site of HA. Except for the conserved amino acids, as is the case in the other avian influenza viruses, located in the receptor binding site, all of the 12 isolates possessed N at amino acid position 183; A, T, or V at position 190; K at position 137, whereas the representative strains of the other lineage (except Dk/HK/Y280/97-like lineage) virus of H9N2 viruses had H, E, and R at these positions respectively. These could be considered as the partial molecular markers of the H9 viruses isolated from chickens in Mainland China. Phylogenetic analyses showed HA genes of these isolates belonged to that of A/duck/Hong Kong/Y280/97-like virus lineage. No A/quail/Hong Kong/Gl/97-like virus was found in chicken, population since the outbreak of H9N2 influenza in Mainland China in 1992. The available evidence indicates that HA genes of H9 influenza virus circulating in Mainland China during the past years were well conserved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. ljh@cau.edu.cn
authors.forename: Jin-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Katsunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mweene
authors.forename: Wei-Min
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Qing-Min
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jing-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Guo-Zhong
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gui-Rong
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kida
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002645:Chickens / Q000821:virology*; D002681:China; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D012367:RNA, Viral