USE OF OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES FOR SELECTING POTENTIAL HIGH-YIELDING INFLUENZA REASSORTANTS

A new method for rapid screening of high-yielding reassortants of infl uenza virus, as candidates for vaccine production, is described. Oligo nucleotide probes specific for all the parent genes of A/PR/8/34 (PR8) , except the HA and the NA were designed based on database information available for different influenza strains. Digoxigenin labelled probe s were tested by slot-blot hybridizations to purified RNA from a panel of A/PR/8/34 wild type and A/PR/8/34 reassortant viruses. The results show that the vast majority of reassortants selected for their high g rowth yield had acquired the non-structural (NS), matrix (M) and RNA p olymerase 2 (PB2) genes from the PR8 parent. It is proposed that probe s for these genes provide the potential for a simple and rapid procedu re for selection of candidate high-yield reassortants for vaccine prod uction. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.