Next, a presumably unstructured linker region (residues 35 to 82) connects the membrane anchor to the catalytic neuraminidase domain (residues 83 to 469; Figure 1 ). Such unstructured linker regions are rich in small and polar residues and often harbour sites for posttranslational modifications [10, 11] . Probable posttranslational modification sites in the neuraminidase of the new strain are glycosylation motifs involving N88, N146 and N235, which correspond to residues that are also glycosylated in other subtype neuraminidases [12] . However, the minimal and non-specific consensus motif of glycosylation sites (Nx [ST]) is found in total 8 times in the new strain sequence with an apparent clustering (50%) in the unstructured linker region ( Figure 1 ). Interestingly, another putative novel glycosylation site N386, which is unique to the new strain, would be accessible on the surface, as seen in the structural models.