Characterization of the 1918 influenza virus polymerase genes

Jeffery K. Taubenberger (), Ann H. Reid, Raina M. Lourens, Ruixue Wang, Guozhong Jin and Thomas G. Fanning
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Jeffery K. Taubenberger: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Ann H. Reid: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Raina M. Lourens: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Ruixue Wang: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Guozhong Jin: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Thomas G. Fanning: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

Nature, 2005, vol. 437, issue 7060, 889-893

Abstract: Flu viruses decoded Understanding the origin and virulence of the virus that caused 1918–19 influenza pandemic is vital, not least because of the risk that a similar virus could arise in the human population. No isolates of the virus were made in 1918, so direct study was not possible, but a project to sequence its genome was begun in 1995, using RNA fragments from autopsy tissues of victims of the pandemic. Now, with the coding sequences of the viral polymerase complex established, that sequence is complete. These data and other recent results suggest that the 1918 virus was an avian strain that adapted to humans, a sobering thought at a time when human cases of the H5N1 avian virus have been reported in Indonesia. Also out this week (on Nature online) is the first report from a large US project that is using novel sequencing techniques to capture the entire genome of modern influenza virus isolates. The first batch of data, to be made publicly available as a baseline for future studies, includes the genomes of 209 influenza isolates. Already the data point to mutations and segment exchanges that might lead to new viruses.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04230

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