/ 9 April 2025

Development of a Plant-Expressed Subunit Vaccine against Brucellosis

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Name of research paper
Development of a Plant-Expressed Subunit Vaccine against Brucellosis

Name of research institution
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Name of Department / Faculty
Advanced Agriculture and Food (AAF) Cluster

1st Author of the research paper
Dr. Daria A. Rutkowska, 

Co-Authors: Lissinda H. Du Plessis, Essa Suleman, Martha M. O’Kennedy, Deepak B. Thimiri Govinda Raj and Yolandy Lemmer

Email Address
[email protected]

Submitting Authority

Executive cluster manager of CSIR AAF

Name of Submitter
Dr. Nthabiseng Motete

Capacity of Submitter
Executive cluster manager

Email address of submitter
[email protected]

Short description of the research
Brucellosis is an important bacterial disease of livestock and the most common zoonotic disease. The current vaccines are effective but unsafe, as they result in animal abortions and are pathogenic to humans. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are being investigated as a novel alternative to the traditional vaccines currently available. VLPs are made entirely of proteins and thus would make non-infectious and safe vaccine candidates. Here we presented short protein sequences on the surface of Orbivirus core-like particles (CLPs) and tested their ability to induce a protective immune response against Brucella in mice. The plant made CLPs were safe when inoculated into BALB/c mice at specific doses. One CLP was protective against a Brucella melitensis field strain with protection equivalent to that induced by the commercial Rev1 vaccine. This is the first step in the development of a safe and efficacious CLP vaccine against brucellosis.

For the Full paper click here: https://mg.co.za/wp-content/uploads/forminator/661847_5ac13dc6138b980575bd24f33eff4ea7/uploads/X6QWvUdPn8YO-Rutkowska-et-al-microorganisms-12-01047-v2-Updated.pdf