High-yield expression of a viral peptide vaccine in transgenic plants

A high-yield production of a peptide vaccine in transgenic plants is descri bed here. A 21-mer peptide, which confers protection to dogs against challe nge with virulent canine parvovirus, has been expressed in transgenic plant s as an aminoterminal translational fusion with the GUS gene. Transformants mere selected on the basis of their GUS activities, showing expression lev els of the recombinant protein up to 3% of the total leaf soluble protein, a production yield comparable to that obtained with the same epitope expres sed by chimeric plant viruses. The immunogenicity of the plant-derived pept ide mas demonstrated in mice immunized either intraperitoneally or orally w ith transgenic plant extracts, providing the suitability of the GUS fusions approach for low-cost production of peptide vaccines. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.