Characterization of a 1980-swine recombinant influenza virus possessing H1 hemagglutinin and N2 neuraminidase similar to that of the earliest Hong Kong (H3N2) virus.

A recombinant (H1N2, formerly Hsw 1N2), A/swine/Ehime/1/80 was found to possess antigenic, biological and genomic characteristics different from those of a previous A/swine/Kanagawa/2/78 (H1N2) strain. Five monoclonal antibodies to A/NJ/8/76 definitely differentiated the hemagglutinin molecules of the former virus from the latter, showing that these viruses differed, at least, at two antigenic determinants. Neuraminidase-inhibition tests with monoclonal antibodies to different H2N2 and H3N2 viruses revealed that the A/swine/Ehime/1/80 strain contained a neuraminidase very similar to that of the late human Asian (H2N2) and the earliest Hong Kong (H3N2) viruses. Growth comparison of swine and human isolates indicated that A/swine/Ehime/1/80 and A/swine/Shizuoka/1/78 (H1N1) failed to grow at 42 degrees C, while A/swine/Kanagawa/2/78 and its possible parental virus, A/swine/Kanagawa/4/78 (H1N1) replicated efficiently at this stringent temperature. These results revealed that the viruses having growth characteristics similar to those of avian influenza virus were present in the swine population. RNA analysis by oligonucleotide mapping suggested that A/swine/Ehime/1/80 may be a recombinant between A/swine/Shizuoka/1/78-like and A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2)-like viruses. To further determine the gene constellation of this recombinant virus, DNA-RNA hybridization was performed by using DNA segments complementary for swine (H1N1) virus RNA and the entire RNAs of three viruses. The molecular hybridization could define the genomic composition of the recombinant, indicating that only the neuraminidase gene of this virus is derived from the earliest Hong Kong (H3N2)-like virus and remaining seven genes from swine (H1N1) virus.