title: A Plant-Produced Bacteriophage Tailspike Protein for the Control of Salmonella.
abstract: The receptor binding domain of the tailspike protein Gp9 from the P22 bacteriophage was recently shown to reduce Salmonella colonization in the chicken gut. In this study, we transiently expressed the receptor binding domain of the Gp9 tailspike protein in Nicotiana benthamiana, and targeted it to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or to the chloroplasts. Gp9 was also fused to either an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) or hydrophobin I tag, which were previously described to improve accumulation levels of recombinant proteins. The highest levels of recombinant protein accumulation occurred when unfused Gp9 was targeted to the ER. Lower levels of chloroplast-targeted Gp9 were also detected. ELP-fused Gp9 was purified and demonstrated to bind to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in vitro. Upon oral administration of lyophilized leaves expressing Gp9-ELP to newly hatched chickens, we found that this tailspike protein has the potential to be used as a therapeutic to control Salmonella contamination in chickens.
authors.affiliation: Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, LondonON, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, LondonON, Canada.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miletic
authors.affiliation: Alberta Glycomics Centre and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Alberta Glycomics Centre and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Szymanski
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Deyholos
authors.affiliation: Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, LondonON, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, LondonON, Canada.
authors.forename: Rima
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menassa
keywords: Nicotiana benthamiana; Salmonella; bacteriophage tailspike protein; chickens; plant biotechnology; transient transformation