ARS | Publication request: Development of a transfer plasmid for expression of foreign genes in meleagrid herpesvirus type 1

Submitted to: American Association of Avian Pathologists
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 15, 2011
Publication Date: July 16, 2011
Citation: Spatz, S.J., Zsak, L. 2011. Development of a transfer plasmid for expression of foreign genes in meleagrid herpesvirus type 1. American Association of Avian Pathologists. 1(1):237.

Technical Abstract: Current research indicates that meleagrid herpesvirus type 1 (MeHV-1) is an excellent vector for the expression of avian immunogens. Classical methods using marker rescue approaches are often time consuming and require the inclusion of undesirable additional genetic material (antibiotic resistant, green fluorescent protein, etc). Generation of vaccine candidates using the recombination machinery of E. coli would elevate these problems. We have developed a transfer plasmid which contains MeHV-1 sequences for homologous recombination into the thymidine kinase locus, a strong eukaryotic promoter upstream of a multiple cloning site. The object of this study is to clone a chicken codon-optimized gene encoding VP-2 of chicken parvovirus into this transfer plasmid, insert the VP-2 gene within the genome of a MeHV-1 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) construct and reconstitute the virus upon transfection of chick embryo fibroblast.