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Title: EVALUATION OF LUCIFERASE EXPRESSION IN SKELETAL MUSCLE OF CHICKENS INJECTED WITH PLASMID DNA

Author
item Danforth, Harry
item Augustine, Patricia
item Jenkins, Mark

Submitted to: American Society of Parasitologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/17/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Skeletal muscle from one-day and 4 week-old male broiler chickens was evaluated for luciferase expression after jet-gun injection with DNA plasmids encoding the luciferase gene driven by either RSV or CMV promotors. Birds of both ages were injected with 100 ug of DNA plasmid in the upper thigh muscle. Tissue samples were taken at 24 hr intervals, quick frozen in liquid nitrogen, and then stored at -70 C until digested for fluorometeric analysis. Comparison of luciferase expression showed that the CMV promotor produced a higher degree of expression at 1-8 days post- injection (PI) in birds from both age groups than did the RSV promotor. The highest degree of expression for both bird-age groups occurred in tissue collected at 1-3 days PI. Expression decreased in tissue collected at later time periods, but was still measurable at 7-8 days PI. These results indicated that the CMV promotor could be incorporated into a DNA plasmid delivery system to immunize chickens with recombinant coccidial antigen.