Comparison of in vitro replication features of H7N3 influenza viruses from wild ducks and turkeys: potential implications for interspecies transmission.
In previous work, it was shown that turkey H7N3 influenza viruses, presumably derived 'in toto' from interspecies transmission of duck viruses in Northern Italy, had only 2 aa differences in haemagglutinin and a few amino acid differences as well as a 23 aa deletion in neuraminidase compared with duck viruses. Here, the replication of these duck and turkey viruses in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells was investigated with respect to virus-cell fusion and viral elution from red blood cells. Duck viruses showed similar receptor-binding properties to turkey viruses but possessed a higher pH of fusion activation than the turkey viruses. Conversely, turkey viruses were not able to elute from red blood cells. These data confirm that neuraminidase-stalk deletion impairs the release of virions from cells and also confirm existence of naturally occurring viruses with different pH fusion activities, raising the possibility that these features may play a role in the evolution of influenza viruses in different hosts.
Giannecchini
Simone
S
Virology Unit, Department of Public Health, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 48, I-50134 Firenze, Italy.
Campitelli
Laura
L
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Calzoletti
Laura
L
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Rome, Italy.
De Marco
Maria Alessandra
MA
Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica, Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy.
Azzi
Alberta
A
Virology Unit, Department of Public Health, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 48, I-50134 Firenze, Italy.
Donatelli
Isabella
I
Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Rome, Italy.
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D002460:Cell Line; D004372:Ducks; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D014422:Turkeys; D014779:Virus Replication
D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus