Rescue of a recombinant Newcastle disease virus strain R2B expressing green fluorescent protein

Newcastle disease virus (NDV), strain R2B is a mesogenic vaccine strain used for booster vaccination in chickens against Newcastle disease in India and many south East Asian countries. A full-length cDNA clone of the virus was generated by ligating eight overlapping fragments generated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction having unique restriction enzyme sites within them. This full-length cDNA clone was flanked by hammerhead ribozyme and hepatitis delta virus ribozyme sequences. Defined genetic markers were introduced into the NDV genome to differentiate the rescued virus from the parent virus. A gene cassette containing the reporter gene, green fluorescent protein flanked by NDV gene-start and gene-end signals was generated by PCR and introduced into the full-length clone of NDV between the P and M genes. Recombinant NDV encoding the GFP gene was rescued having precise termini when transfected into permissive Vero cells along with support plasmids harbouring the nucleoprotein, phosphoprotein and polymerase genes. The recombinant virus had similar growth kinetics as that of the parent virus with a moderate reduction in the virulence. The generation of reverse genetics system for NDV strain R2B will help in the development of multivalent vaccines against viral diseases of livestock and poultry.