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The plaquing characteristics of a comprehensive range of influenza viruses in epithelial cell cultures of bovine and specific-pathogen-free chicken kidney are described. All type B viruses produced standard large plaques with high efficiency in bovine kidney cell cultures. They also plaqued in chicken kidney, but morphology was more varied and efficiency was slightly reduced. By comparison, the behaviour of a range of influenza A viruses was heterogeneous. Five out of 16 viruses failed to plaque in calf kidney cell cultures and the plaque morphology of the remainder varied with individual isolates and not with serotypes. E.o.p. was variable. Results in chicken kidney cell cultures were better and there were relatively fewer non-plaque-formers. Influenza A recombinants generally behaved like other influenza A viruses and it was concluded that plaquing capacity was genetically determined.