#16-184
CompleteCategory
Swine Health-Foreign Animal DiseaseDate Full Report Received
02/09/2018Date Abstract Report Received
02/09/2018Investigation
Institution: ARS, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, USDAPrimary Investigator: Douglas Gladue
Funded By
Pork Checkoff and CEEZAD| African swine fever has many different genes. Very few of these genes have been studied and their function remains largely unknown. We took some of these unknown proteins and with bioinformatics predicted their potential functions. We then took predicted candidates and determined the cellular proteins that bind to these viral proteins. We found that one of the viral proteins binds with a cellular protein that is expressed in animals as a method for fighting viruses, this cellular protein is called Interleukin-1-Beta (IL-1β). Next we set out to delete this viral protein using molecular approaches. We were successful and were able to get viable virus that replicated well in cell cultures. Next we compared the ability of our mutant virus to cause disease in swine. When tested, our mutant showed disease characteristics similar to that of a parental virus. This tells us that this viral protein is not required for the virus to cause disease. Further studies incorporating this viral deletion into other attenuated strains could lead to a safer next-generation experimental ASFV vaccine. |