Construction and immunogenicity of the recombinant Lactobacillus acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5 of bovine viral diarrhea virus.

Bovine viral diarrhea/mucosal disease (BVD/MD) is an infectious disease of cattle with a worldwide distribution, creating a substantial economic impact. It is caused by bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). This research was conducted to construct the recombinant Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus) pMG36e-E0-LA-5 of BVDV E0 gene and to test its immunogenicity and protective efficacy against BVDV infection in the mice model. The BVDV E0 gene was sub-cloned into the expression vector and then transformed into the L. acidophilus LA-5 strain by electroporation. The recombinant L. acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5 was confirmed by the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blotting. The mice were immunized orally with the recombinant L. acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5. The serum IgG antibody and fecal sIgA antibody responses, expression levels of interleukin (IL)-12 (IL-12) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) were detected respectively. On the 7th day after the last-immunization, the mice were inoculated with BVDV to evaluate the protective efficiency of the recombinant L. acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5. The results showed that the expressed products protein E0 in the L. acidophilus LA-5 resulted in single band of 27kDa by SDS-PAGE and its strong reactivity with BVDV antibody was confirmed by Western blotting. The IgG and sIgA antibodies responses, IL-12 and IFN-γ expression levels in the vaccinated mice with recombinant L. acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5 were significantly higher than those in the control mice. The protective rate of the vaccinated mice against BVDV increased significantly, and a 90.00% protection rate in virulent challenge was observed. These results indicated that the recombinant L. acidophilus pMG36e-E0-LA-5 strain was successfully constructed and it could effectively improve the immune response in mice and might provide protection against BVDV.

Biosafety of the plasmid pcDNA3-1E of Eimeria acervulina in chicken.

To evaluate the biosafety of the plasmid pcDNA3-1E of Eimeria acervulina in chicken, two-week-old chickens were injected intramuscularly with the plasmid pcDNA3-1E at dose of 50 µg/chicken. At the 15 days post-injection, the tissue samples were collected, the total DNA was extracted, and the 3-1E gene was amplified by PCR. Genomic DNA was first purified away from free plasmid using gel electrophoresis, and then assayed for integrated plasmid using PCR amplification of the 3-1E gene. Simultaneously, the environmental dejection samples were collected, the total bacterial DNA was extracted and then transfer of the pcDNA3-1E gene was detected by PCR amplification of the 3-1E gene. Two-week-old chickens were injected intramuscularly with the plasmid pcDNA3-1E with three dosage groups of 100 µg, 500 µg and 2500 µg/chicken for 14 days respectively, and with physiological saline at dose of 2500 µL/chicken as control group for acute toxicity test. A target band of 583 bp was obtained by PCR with chicken genomic DNA as template. If the chicken genomic DNA was purified, no target band could be obtained. It showed that the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3-1E existed in tissues, and no genomic integration of DNA plasmid was detected in the immunized chickens. No target band was found by PCR with environmental dejection bacteria genomic DNA as template. It showed that integration and transfer phenomenon did not exist in environment. The acute toxicity results showed the typical clinical symptoms did not occur in the inoculated chickens, the blood biochemical indices and viscera configuration were not affected significantly in the inoculated group and control group (P>0.05). The results showed that the plasmid pcDNA3-1E was safe and suitable for chicken clinical trials.