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Deletion of the Viral Thymidine Kinase in a Meq-Deleted Recombinant Marek's Disease Virus Reduces Lymphoid Atrophy but Is Less Protective
| Content Provider | MDPI |
|---|---|
| Author | Conrad, Steven J. Oluwayinka, Eniope B. Heidari, Mohammad Mays, Jody K. Dunn, John R. |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
| Description | Marek’s disease (MD) is a ubiquitous disease of domesticated chickens and its etiologic agent is the Gallid alphaherpesvirus 2 (GaHV-2), also known as Marek’s disease virus (MDV). MD is currently controlled by vaccination using live attenuated strains of MDV (e.g., CVI988/Rispens), non-pathogenic serotypes of MDV (GaHV-3), or non-pathogenic strains of the related Melagrid alphaherpesvirus 1 (MeHV-1). One attractive strategy for the production of new vaccine strains is a recombinant MDV attenuated by the deletion of the major viral oncogene meq. However, meq-deleted variants of MDV cause atrophy of the bursa and thymus in maternal antibody-negative chickens, and the resulting immunosuppression makes them unsuitable. Herein we detail our attempt to mitigate the lymphoid atrophy caused by meq-deleted MDV by further attenuation of the virus through ablation of the viral thymidine kinase (tk) gene. We demonstrate that ablation of the viral tk from the meq-deleted virus rMd5B40/Δmeq resulted in a virus attenuated for replication in vitro and which spared chickens from atrophy of the lymphoid organs in vivo. When the rMd5B40/Δmeq/Δtk/GFP was used as a vaccine it was protective against challenge with the vv+MDV strain 686, but the protection was less than that provided by the CVI988/Rispens vaccine. |
| Starting Page | 7 |
| e-ISSN | 20762607 |
| DOI | 10.3390/microorganisms10010007 |
| Journal | Microorganisms |
| Issue Number | 1 |
| Volume Number | 10 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Publisher Date | 2021-12-22 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Microorganisms Virology Marek's Disease Marek's Disease Virus Mdv Live-attenuated Virus Thymidine Kinase Meq |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
