Bacillus subtilis expressing duck Tembusu virus E protein induces immune protection in ducklings

Chong Peng; Yuxuan Zhang; Lijun Chen; Zixuan Li; Penghao Lv; Peng Wang; Ning Li; Fangkun Wang

doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106419

Bacillus subtilis expressing duck Tembusu virus E protein induces immune protection in ducklings

Microb Pathog. 2023 Dec:185:106419. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106419. Epub 2023 Oct 20.

Authors

Chong Peng¹, Yuxuan Zhang¹, Lijun Chen¹, Zixuan Li¹, Penghao Lv¹, Peng Wang¹, Ning Li², Fangkun Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian City, Shandong Province, China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian City, Shandong Province, China.
² Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian City, Shandong Province, China.
³ Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian City, Shandong Province, China; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian City, Shandong Province, China. Electronic address: wangfangkun@sdau.edu.cn.

PMID: 37866549
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106419

Abstract

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) is an infectious disease that emerged in China in 2010. It has caused serious economic losses to the poultry industry and may pose a threat to public health. We aimed to develop a new Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis)-based oral vaccine to control DTMUV transmission among poultry; to this end, we constructed a B. subtilis strain that can secrete DTMUV E protein. Ducklings were orally immunized, and serum antibodies, mucosal antibodies, and splenic cytokines were detected. The results showed that, in addition to high levels of specific IgG, there were also high levels of specific secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) in ducklings orally treated with recombinant B. subtilis. In addition, the levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 in spleens were significantly boosted by recombinant B. subtilis. Recombinant B. subtilis could effectively enhance ducklings resistance to DTMUV and significantly reduce viral load (p<0.01), along with pathological damage in the brain, heart, and spleen. This is the first study to apply a B. subtilis live-vector vaccine platform for DTMUV disease prevention and control, and our results suggest that B. subtilis expressing DTMUV E protein may be a candidate vaccine against DTMUV.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis; Duck Tembusu virus; E protein; Vaccine.

MeSH terms

Animals
Antibodies, Viral
Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus*
Ducks
Flavivirus Infections* / prevention & control
Flavivirus Infections* / veterinary
Poultry Diseases*
Transcription Factors
Vaccines*

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Transcription Factors
Vaccines

Supplementary concepts

Tembusu virus