High reproduction capacity of recombinants between H3N2 human influenza and fowl plague viruses is due to the gene coding for M proteins.

Recombinants between H3N2 human influenza viruses (A/Victoria/3/75 and A/Bangkok/1/79, low-yielding parents in chick embryos) and fowl plague virus (FPV, a high-yielding parent in chick embryos) have been obtained. The high reproductive capacity of recombinants in chick embryos has been shown to be due to the gene coding for M proteins.