The immunogenicity of reassortants of the cold-adapted influenza A master strain A/Ann Arbor/6/60 is determined by both the genes for cold-adaptation and the haemagglutinin gene.

Two surface antigen segregants were prepared by co-infection of chicken embryo kidney cell cultures with reassortants of the cold-adapted influenza A master strain A/Ann Arbor/6/60-ca (H2N2) possessing the surface antigens of A/Queensland/6/72 (H3N2) and A/Hong Kong/123/77 (H1N1) and other genes that were common to the master strain. The segregants were shown by serological tests to possess H3N1 and H1N2 surface antigens but it was not possible to determine the presence of H1 or N1 genes by single-stranded RNA polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The immunogenic properties of A/Queensland/6/72-ca and H3N1 segregant CR6/35/2/9 were compared by immunising mice intranasally with graded doses of each virus twice at an interval of 3 weeks and then challenging with the wild-type A/Queensland/6/72 (H3N2). Clearance of the challenge virus occurred in mice immunised with the same vaccinating dose, indicating that the immunogenicity of both the ca H3N2 and H3N1 viruses was identical and similar findings were obtained for mice immunised with A/Hong Kong/123/77-ca and the H1N2 segregant CR6/35/1/19 and challenged with the wild-type A/Hong Kong/123/77. Therefore, there appears to be a good correlation between immunogenicity and the inheritance of the haemagglutinin gene.