Secretion of the rotavirus VP8*protein in Lactococcus lactis

Secretion of the VP8* subunit of the VP4 capsid protein of rotavirus by Lac tococcus lactis has been achieved. For this purpose, a secretion vector has been constructed with the lactococcal signal sequence AL9 and the VP8*-enc oding gene fragment. The amount of VP8* secreted by L. lactis in the cultur e supernatant was quantified and visualised by Western blot. Furthermore, i t was shown to retain its hemagglutination capability, indicating that the conformation of the secreted peptide may be retaining its biological activi ty. (C) 2001 Federation of European Microbiological Societies, Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.