Location: Virus and Prion Research
Project Number: 5030-32000-118-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Oct 19, 2016
End Date: Oct 4, 2021
Objective:
1. Identify pathogenic mechanisms of swine Nidovirales, including identifying the pathogenic mechanisms of Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), and the pathogenic mechanisms of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV).
2. Discover and assess vaccines that can reduce or prevent economic losses from swine viral diseases, including identifying mechanisms to modulate innate and adaptive immune responses to swine viral pathogens and investigating technologies to override vaccine interference from passively acquired immunity.
3. Determine evolutionary antigenic and pathogenic properties of economically significant swine viral pathogen, including identifying and monitoring genetic and antigenic evolution in Nidovirales and emerging viral pathogens.
4. Identify mechanisms of pathogenesis, transmission, and immunity for emerging viral diseases of swine, starting with evaluating the onset and duration of Seneca A virus immunity in swine.
Approach:
This research project will focus on swine diseases caused by viruses that are top concerns for United States pork producers: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, porcine coronaviruses, and new and emerging diseases such as Seneca A virus. These pathogens will be examined in the laboratory as well as in swine disease models to investigate mechanisms of pathogenesis, transmission, immunity, evolution and methods of intervention. Animal experiments to be conducted involve one of three general designs: 1) disease pathogenesis and transmission studies, 2) vaccine efficacy studies, 3) sow/neonatal studies. Knowledge obtained will be applied to break the cycle of transmission of these swine pathogens through development of better vaccines or other novel intervention strategies. A major research approach will be the use of reverse engineering and infectious clones to identify virulence components of each virus under study through mutational studies. Development of vaccines that provide better cross-protective immunity than what is currently available with today’s vaccines will be approached through vaccine vector platform development, attenuated strains for vaccines and other novel technologies. A key approach in the study of disease pathogenesis is to better understand the host response to viral infection to various viruses. This research on comparative host transcriptomics will provide insights on viral pathogenesis and possible virulence factors that will enable rational design of more effective vaccines and target possible novel intervention strategies.
