VARIATION AMONGST THE NEUTRALIZING EPITOPES OF BLUETONGUE VIRUSES ISOLATED IN THE UNITED-STATES IN 1979-1981

Neutralizing epitopes present on field isolates of bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes 10, 11, 13 and 17 were evaluated with a panel of polyclonal and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). A total of 91 field isolates were evaluated, including 15 isolates of BTV-10, 29 isolates of BTV-11, 26 isolates of BTV-13, and 21 isolates of BTV-17. The viruses were isolated from cattle, goats, sheep, elk and deer in Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska and, predominantly, California, in the years 1979, 1980 and 1981. The isolates were analyzed and compared using a panel of neutralizing MAbs which included five MAbs raised against BTV-2, seven against BTV-10, five against BTV-13, and six against BTV-17. Neutralization patterns obtained with the MAb panel and individual field isolates were compared to those obtained with prototype viruses of each serotype. All field isolates were neutralized by at least some of the MAbs raised against the prototype virus of the same serotype. All field isolates of BTV-10 were neutralized by the seven MAbs raised to BTV-10, whereas the field isolates of BTV-11, BTV-13 and BTV-17 were not consistently neutralized by all of the MAbs raised against the prototype virus of the same serotype. Variation in neutralizing epitopes recognized by the MAb panel was most pronounced amongst the field isolates of BTV-17. A one-way cross neutralization was evident between BTV-10 and BTV-17 as all field isolates of BTV-17 were neutralized by four of the MAbs raised against BTV-10. In contrast, no BTV-10 isolates were neutralized by the MAbs raised against BTV-17. Differences in the MAb neutralization patterns of field isolates of BTV-11, BTV-13 and BTV-17 suggest that the immunogenic domain responsible for their neutralization is plastic, such that individual epitopes within the domain may vary in their significance to the neutralization of different viruses, even of the same serotype. The apparent conservation of neutralizing epitopes on field isolates of BTV-10 suggests that the field isolates may be derived from the modified-live vaccine strain of BTV-10.