A study of antigenic variants of foot-and-mouth disease virus by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of their structural polypeptides.

Twenty-nine foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) type A virus strains, previously classified serologically as distinct subtypes were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to determine the extent of variation in the pattern of the structural polypeptides and to evaluate the technique as an aid to existing subtyping techniques. The majority of the subtypes examined had distinct polypeptide patterns, however, some variation also occurred between strains within a subtype. The position of VP2(1B) and VP3(1C) was often unchanged in different strains within a subtype and between geographically related subtypes over long periods of time. Changes in the position of VP1(1D) were also observed within a subtype. The technique was considered to be of value for the screening of isolates prior to conventional serological subtyping procedures and in the tracing of the possible origin of FMD outbreaks.