DEVELOPMENT OF A RECOMBINANT IPNV VACCINE FOR PROTECTION OF SALMONIDFISH

INFECTIOUS PANCREATIC NECROSIS VIRUS (IPNV) CAUSES A HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS DISEASE IN YOUNG SALMONID FISH WHICH CAN RESULT IN MORTALITIES OF GREATER THAT 90%. THIS DISEASE, WHICH IS CURRENTLY UNTREATABLE, IS OF CONSIDERABLE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE TO THE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY. IMMUNIZATION MAY PROVIDE THE PROTECTING NEEDED TO PREVENT DISEASE OUTBREAKS AND A RECOMBINANT IPNV SUBUNIT VACCINE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. THE VACCINE CONSISTS OF A LYSATE OF ESCHERICHIA COLI CONTAINING A PLASMID ENCODING A CDNA COPY OF THE ENTIRE GENOMIC SEGMENT A OF IPNV. VIRAL VP2, NS AND VP3 PROTEINS ARE EXPRESSED AND PROTECTION HAS BEEN INDUCED IN FISH IN A PRELIMINARY SMALL-SCALE TRIAL. HOWEVER, THE PROTEIN RESPONSIBLE FOR PROTECTION ISSTILL UNKNOWN. THE MAJOR CAPSID PROTEIN, VP2, INDUCES NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES AND CONTAINS COMMON AND UNIQUE EPITOPES. VP3 INDUCES BINDING ANTIBODIES. TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF EACH PROTEIN IN INDUCING PROTECTION, ADDITIONAL PLASMIDS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND EVALUATED FOR VACCINE EFFICACY. THESE PLASMIDS WILL CONTAIN THE 5' END OF VP2 GENE, THE ENTIRE VP2 GENE ALONE, OR THE VP3 GENE ALONE. SUBSEQUENTLY, EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE WHICH OF THE RECOMBINANT SUBUNIT VACCINES IN THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN PROTECTING SALMONID FISH AGAINST SEVERAL IPNV ISOLATES AND SEROTYPES.