title: Characterization of an H4N2 influenza virus from Quails with a multibasic motif in the hemagglutinin cleavage site.
abstract: The cleavage motif in the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of highly pathogenic H5 and H7 subtypes of avian influenza viruses is characterized by a peptide insertion or a multibasic cleavage site (MBCS). Here, we isolated an H4N2 virus from quails (Quail/CA12) with two additional arginines in the HA cleavage site, PEKRRTR/G, forming an MBCS-like motif. Quail/CA12 is a reassortant virus with the HA and neuraminidase (NA) gene most similar to a duck-isolated H4N2 virus, PD/CA06 with a monobasic HA cleavage site. Quail/CA12 required exogenous trypsin for efficient growth in culture and caused no clinical illness in infected chickens. Quail/CA12 had high binding preference for α2,6-linked sialic acids and showed higher replication and transmission ability in chickens and quails than PD/CA06. Although the H4N2 virus remained low pathogenic, these data suggests that the acquisition of MBCS in the field is not restricted to H5 or H7 subtypes.
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Sook-San
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States; Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zanin
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Min-Suk
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oshansky
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States; American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zaraket
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonnberg
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rubrum
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seiler
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, United States.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cardona
authors.affiliation: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis TN, United States.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Webby
authors.affiliation: California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, United States. Electronic address: Bcrossle@cahfs.ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crossley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005289:Ferrets; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D011784:Quail
chemical_list: D006388:Hemagglutinins
keywords: H4N2; Low pathogenic avian influenza; Multibasic cleavage site; Outbreak; Quail