Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (2): 774-787.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.02.027

• Preventive Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Construction of Recombinant Lactococcus lactis Inducible Expressing HA Protein of H5N1 Subtype Avian Influenza Virus and Analysis of Its Immunogenicity in Ducks

WU Jiahui(), SHEN Shiyan(), DENG Jinbo, WU Haiyang, REN Zhixin, WU Yangbo, HUANG Juan, HUANG Haobin, PAN Weixiong, ZHAO Zengjue, HE Rongxiao, SUN Chongjun, ZHANG Linghua*()   

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for the Development Biology and Environmental Adaptation of Agricultural Organisms, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
  • Received:2024-03-22 Online:2025-02-23 Published:2025-02-26
  • Contact: ZHANG Linghua E-mail:1142620951@stu.scau.edu.cn;EnshWinter@163.com;lhzhang@scau.edu.cn

Abstract:

Avian influenza, caused by avian influenza viruses, is a highly contagious disease characterized by high mortality rates among infected poultry, posing significant health risks to poultry and economic burdens. However, the majority of duck farming comprises small-scale and free-range practices, where environmental conditions vary and ducks are prone to diseases. In such scenarios, traditional vaccination practices present challenges such as inconvenient injection and immunological stress. To tackle this issue, this study devised a method to produce a convenient and safe oral biological agent of hemagglutinin (HA) tailored specifically for ducklings. We constructed the anchoring sequence (pgsA, BmpA, cA, and M6)-GFP reporter expression system, enabling the visualization of different anchoring sequences' effects on surface-displayed proteins in Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis). With this system, we successfully identified BmpA and cA as efficient anchoring sequences in L. lactis. After comparing the expression efficiency of HA in L. lactis and optimizing the codons, we selected the optimized HA gene sequence and connected it with BmpA and cA. Then, we co-integrated them into the expression plasmids of L. lactis. Subsequently, we introduced the constructed expression plasmids into L. lactis containing the integrated HA1 gene in the genome, thereby generating recombinant L. lactis capable of both inducible secretory expression and surface display of HA(NZB-HA1-pNZ8148-BmpA-HA1 and NZB-HA1-pNZ8148-HA1-cA). The ELISA results indicated that orally administered inducible secretory-surface display recombinant L. lactis eliciteds superior levels of HA-specific IgG in duckling serum compared to single-expression recombinant L. lactis treatment. This study successfully established the Anchoring sequence-GFP screening system for Lactobacillus, identifying efficient anchoring sequences suitable for L. lactis, thereby achieving efficient expression of HA on the surface of L. lactis. Subsequently, in conjunction with the genomic secretion expression, we successfully obtained an oral biological agent with satisfactory HA immunogenicity for ducklings. This achievement offers a practical and feasible strategy for the subsequent development of convenient and safe avian influenza oral vaccines.

Key words: anchoring sequence, Lactococcus lactis, avian influenza, duckling, HA

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