Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine from GM Plants

Researchers from Canada are one step closer to developing an anti-foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine derived from transgenic plants. The researchers, reporting in the current issue of Transgenic Research, have successfully developed transgenic tobacco plants accumulating significant levels of the a single chain variable antibody fragment (scFv) recognizing foot and mouth disease virus coat protein VP1. To enhance accumulation, the researchers fused the scFv gene to an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) tag. The ELP-scFv fusion protein accumulated up to 0.8 percent of total soluble leaf protein in transgenic plants.

FMD outbreaks have a severe impact on the economy of affected countries. According to the researchers, the FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2001 led to the destruction of over 4 million animals with a total cost of several billion pounds sterling. "Passive immunization with low-cost recombinant antibodies is an attractive alternative to protect susceptible animals in zones surrounding the infection sites," the researchers wrote in the paper.

The paper is available for download at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11248-009-9257-0