AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF HIGHLY PURIFIED VIRAL PARTICLES OF INFLUENZA A AND B

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Biochemistry
• Microbiology

Background:

• Influenza A (PR8 strain) and Influenza B (Lee strain) are distinct viral subtypes.
• Understanding the biochemical composition of viruses is crucial for explaining their biological behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the amino acid composition of purified Influenza A (PR8) and Influenza B (Lee) viruses.
• To investigate if observed amino acid differences correlate with known property variations between the strains.

Main Methods:

• Microbiological assays were performed on hydrolysates of highly purified Influenza A (PR8) and Influenza B (Lee) virus preparations.
• Quantification of specific amino acids was conducted using these assays.

Main Results:

• Both influenza A and B viruses exhibited similar levels of alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, and valine.
• Significant quantitative differences were identified in arginine, glutamic acid, lysine, tryptophan, and tyrosine content between the two virus strains.

Conclusions:

• The amino acid profiles of Influenza A (PR8) and Influenza B (Lee) viruses are largely conserved, with notable exceptions.
• The identified disparities in specific amino acids (arginine, glutamic acid, lysine, tryptophan, tyrosine) may contribute to the differing characteristics of these influenza strains.