Plant-derived vaccines for veterinary disease management in ruminants and swine

Vaccination remains one of the effective strategies to control infectious diseases, thereby preventing millions of deaths each year globally. Veterinary vaccines protects animal and public health, enabling efficient production of livestock, reduce antibiotic use and also prevent zoonotic spill over events. Traditional vaccines were developed using live-attenuated or inactivated pathogens. However, the advancements in the genetic engineering and recombinant protein production technologies have made possible the vaccine design and production of recombinant vaccine antigens or immunotherapeutic molecules for both human and veterinary use. Most of the commercially available recombinant therapeutic proteins are produced in mammalian system which limits their feasibility, particularly for veterinary applications due to their high production costs. Therefore, the development of low cost products using alternative production platforms is highly essential. The utilization of plant expression system for the recombinant vaccine production has increased in the recent years due to its advantages such as low production costs, scalability, safety, and the ability to express complex proteins. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the vaccine antigens produced in plant system with a particular focus on vaccines targeting infectious diseases in ruminants and swine.