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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Immunization of Adult Zebrafish for the Preclinical Screening of DNA-based Vaccines
Published on: October 30, 2018
In ovo DNA immunisation followed by a recombinant fowlpox boost is fully protective to challenge with virulent IBDV
E A Haygreen1, P Kaiser, S C Burgess
1Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berkshire RG20 7NN, UK.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of DNA vaccination delivered in ovo for protecting against challenge with infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Using a plasmid expressing the beta-galactosidase gene, DNA was successfully delivered to the embryo after in ovo injection and localises to the proventriculus and thymus. The coding sequence for the immunogenic IBDV protein, VP2, was cloned into pCI-neo, creating pCI-Vp2. Complete protection against IBDV was obtained by priming in ovo with pCI-Vp2, followed by boosting with the fowlpox recombinant, fpIBD1, also expressing the VP2 gene. This complete protection was not evident with either of the experimental vaccines on their own. An antibody response was not detected after the prime-boost vaccination, even after chicks had been challenged with IBDV, implying that the DNA prime delivered in ovo stimulated a protective cellular immune response.
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