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

Microbiological assays for amino acids were made on hydrolysates of four to five highly purified preparations each of influenza A virus (PR8 strain) and influenza B virus (Lee strain). The results of the assays indicated that these strains of influenza virus contain approximately the same amounts of alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, and valine. However, significant differences were found in the values for arginine, glutamic acid, lysine, tryptophane, and tyrosine. It is believed that these differences may provide, at least in part, a chemical explanation for some of the differing properties of the PR8 and Lee strains of influenza viruses.