Development of a Recombinant Protein Vaccine Based on Cell-Free Protein Synthesis for Sevenband Grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus Against Viral Nervous Necrosis

• Published in: Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 25; no. 10; pp. 1761 - 1767
• Main Authors: Kim, Jong-Oh, Kim, Jae-Ok, Kim, Wi-Sik, Oh, Myung-Joo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 한국미생물생명공학회 31.10.2015
• Subjects: cell-free protein synthesis; CFPS; nervous necrosis virus; NNV; recombinant protein; sevenband grouper; Viral nervous necrosis; VNN; cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS); Viral nervous necrosis (VNN); nervous necrosis virus (NNV); recombinant protein; sevenband grouper
• ISSN: 1017-7825; 1738-8872

Sevenband grouper, Epinephelus septemfasciatus, is becoming an important aquaculture species in Korea. However, viral nervous necrosis disease is a large problem causing mass mortality in sevenband grouper aquaculture. Recombinant protein vaccines are one of the best methods to reduce these economic losses. However, the cell-based expression method mainly produces inclusion bodies and requires additional procedures. In this study, we expressed a recombinant viral coat protein of sevenband grouper nervous necrosis virus (NNV) using a cell-free protein synthesis system. The purified recombinant NNV coat protein (rNNV-CP) was injected into sevenband grouper at different doses followed by a NNV challenge. Nonimmunized fish in the first trial (20 μg/fish) began to die 5 days post-challenge and reached 70% cumulative mortality. In contrast, immunized fish also starting dying 5 days postchallenge but lower cumulative mortality (10%) was observed. Cumulative morality in the second trial with different doses (20, 4, and 0.8 μg/fish) was 10%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. These results suggest that rNNV-CP can effectively immunize sevenband grouper depending on the dose administered. This study provides a new approach to develop a recombinant vaccine against NNV infection for sevenband grouper.