title: Exchange of the C-terminal part of VP3 from very virulent infectious bursal disease virus results in an attenuated virus with a unique antigenic structure.
abstract: Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is the major viral pathogen in the poultry industry. Live attenuated serotype 1 vaccine strains are commonly used to protect susceptible chickens during their first 6 weeks of life. Wild-type serotype 1 IBDV strains are highly pathogenic only in chickens, whereas serotype 2 strains are apathogenic in chickens and other birds. Here we describe the replacement of the genomic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) encoding the N- or C-terminal part of VP3 of serotype 1 very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) (isolate D6948) with the corresponding part of serotype 2 (isolate TY89) genomic dsRNA. The modified virus containing the C-terminal part of serotype 2 VP3 significantly reduced the virulence in specific-pathogen-free chickens, without affecting the distinct bursa tropism of serotype 1 IBDV strains. Furthermore, by using serotype-specific antibodies we were able to distinguish bursas infected with wild-type vvIBDV from bursas infected with the modified vvIBDV. We are currently evaluating the potential of this recombinant strain as an attenuated live vaccine that induces a unique serological response (i.e., an IBDV marker vaccine).
authors.affiliation: Institute for Animal Science and Health, ID-Lelystad, PO Box 65, NL-8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands. H.J.Boot@id.wag-ur.nl
authors.forename: Hein J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Boot
authors.forename: A Agnes H M
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: ter Huurne
authors.forename: Arjan J W
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hoekman
authors.forename: Jan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pol
authors.forename: Arno L J
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gielkens
authors.forename: Ben P H
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Peeters
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018175:Birnaviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000473:pathology; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002460:Cell Line; D002645:Chickens; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007243:Infectious bursal disease virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010957:Plasmids; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014765:Viral Vaccines