Composition and sequence studies show that A/duck/Ukraine/1/63 haemagglutinin (Hav7) belongs to the Hong Kong (H3) subtype

Abstract

The haemagglutinin chains HA1 and HA2 from the avian influenza virus A/duck/Ukraine/1/63 (Hav7, Neq2) have been subjected to amino acid analysis and N-terminal sequencing. Automated sequenator analysis of HA1 (40 cycles), after enzymic removal of the N-terminal pyroglutamic acid blocking group, and HA2 (43 cycles) showed that the Hav7 haemagglutinin closely resembled the human Hong Kong (H3) haemagglutinins including the presence of the characteristic extended 10 residue sequence at the N-terminus of HA1. These findings, together with the amino acid compositions for both chains, demonstrate that the Hav7 haemagglutinin is structurally similar to the Hong Kong (H3) haemagglutinins.