Identification of subgroups of bovine respiratory syncytial virus.

The occurrence of antigenic variation among nine isolates of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) was determined by examining their reaction patterns to human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) subgroup A and B monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) by enzyme immunoassay and radioimmunoprecipitation with fractionation by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis by using MAbs and polyclonal antisera to HRSV and BRSV. Shared epitopes were demonstrated on four of five structural proteins between BRSV and both subgroups A and B of HRSV. The nine isolates of BRSV showed different patterns of reactivity in enzyme immunoassays with panels of MAbs to HRSV subgroups A and B. Major variations in the molecular weights of the P (phosphoprotein) and F (fusion protein) proteins were demonstrated among the BRSV isolates tested. These results suggest that BRSV belongs to a different antigenic grouping than HRSV and that BRSV is composed of two distinct subgroups.