1. In planta production of two peptides of the Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV) E2 glycoprotein fused to the coat protein of potato virus X
- Author
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Carla Marusic, Fabio Veronesi, Chiara Lico, Francesca De Marchis, Gianpiero Marconi, Emidio Albertini, Pierluigi Barone, Domenico Rutili, and Andrea Porceddu
- Subjects
lcsh:Biotechnology ,Recombinant Fusion Proteins ,Coat protein ,Protein Engineering ,Virus ,Viral Proteins ,Wild boar ,biology.animal ,lcsh:TP248.13-248.65 ,Tobacco ,Animals ,Glycoproteins ,biology ,Transmission (medicine) ,Classical swine fever virus CSFV ,E2 glycoprotein ,fungi ,food and beverages ,biology.organism_classification ,Potato virus X ,Plants, Genetically Modified ,Virology ,Potexvirus ,Classical swine fever ,Classical Swine Fever Virus ,Capsid Proteins ,Rabbits ,Peptides ,Biotechnology ,Research Article - Abstract
Background Classical Swine Fever (CSFV) is one of the most important viral infectious diseases affecting wild boars and domestic pigs. The etiological agent of the disease is the CSF virus, a single stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae. All preventive measures in domestic pigs have been focused in interrupting the chain of infection and in avoiding the spread of CSFV within wild boars as well as interrupting transmission from wild boars to domestic pigs. The use of plant based vaccine against CSFV would be advantageous as plant organs can be distributed without the need of particular treatments such as refrigeration and therefore large areas, populated by wild animals, could be easily covered. Results We report the in planta production of peptides of the classical swine fever (CSF) E2 glycoprotein fused to the coat protein of potato virus X. RT-PCR studies demonstrated that the peptide encoding sequences are correctly retained in the PVX construct after three sequential passage in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Sequence analysis of RT-PCR products confirmed that the epitope coding sequences are replicated with high fidelity during PVX infection. Partially purified virions were able to induce an immune response in rabbits. Conclusion Previous reports have demonstrated that E2 synthetic peptides can efficiently induce an immunoprotective response in immunogenized animals. In this work we have showed that E2 peptides can be expressed in planta by using a modified PVX vector. These results are particularly promising for designing strategies for disease containment in areas inhabited by wild boars.
- Published
- 2005