New veterinary vaccines from plants against diseases transmissible to humans. All this by producing molecules intended for the development of vaccines and diagnostic kits for certain sheep and pig diseases. Researchers from Enea are also involved in this project, called Repordivac and funded with 6 million euros from European funds, playing a coordinating role.
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Focus on 4 livestock diseases
The project, as highlighted by the research agency, focuses on four reproductive diseases in livestock: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) of viral origin, Q fever caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii which mainly affects sheep and goats, ovine enzootic abortion caused by the bacterium Chlamydia abortus, and swine brucellosis caused by the bacterium Brucella suis. “These diseases – the research agency points out – cause significant economic losses globally, as they significantly impact the reproduction and profitability of livestock, particularly cattle, sheep, and pigs, with emergency management costs in the event of outbreaks reaching up to 200 billion dollars a year, compared to a prevention expenditure estimated at approximately 20 billion.” Not only that,
3 bacteria also pose a risk to human health
Furthermore, the three bacteria (C. burnetii, C. abortus, and B. suis) “also represent a risk to public health as pathogens transmissible directly from infected animals to humans.”
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“Currently, our activities are focused on the production of antigens, which are molecules present on pathogenic viruses and bacteria that are recognized by the immune system to activate a specific defense response – explains Selene Baschieri, researcher at the Green Biotechnologies Laboratory in the Sustainability Department and project coordinator -. These antigens represent fundamental biological tools and will be used for the formulation of new vaccines, if in vitro and in vivo tests confirm their effectiveness in activating immune responses capable of conferring protection in animals.”
The aid of the technological platform
The activity is conducted with the aid of Plant Molecular Farming, a technological platform developed and perfected by Enea over more than twenty years of research, which uses plants as ‘biofactories’ for the production of biopharmaceuticals. As for its operation, it is easily explained. “To produce viral and bacterial antigens or antibodies – the Agency argues – researchers introduce into the Nicotiana benthamiana plant, a species of wild tobacco, the genetic information necessary for the synthesis of biopharmaceuticals, exploiting the natural ability of the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer genetic material into plant cells. The plant then produces the biomolecule in its tissues from where it can be extracted and purified.” As for the costs and production times of biomolecules, as Maria Elena Villani, researcher and project dissemination manager, adds, “with Plant Molecular Farming, they are significantly lower than those of biological drugs produced in mammalian cell cultures. From idea to product, a few weeks may be sufficient. Furthermore, these technologies could be more accessible for developing countries, where zoonotic diseases, i.e., transmissible from animals to humans, are often more widespread and traditional pharmaceutical production infrastructures are scarce.”
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