WO1990015140A1 - Production of ibdv vp2 in highly immunogenic form - Google Patents

Abstract

A highly immunogenic form of the VP2 structural protein of IBDV comprises a high molecular weight aggregated form of VP2 produced by the expression of a nucleotide sequence coding for the VP2 structural protein or a polypeptide displaying the antigenicity of all or a part of the VP2 structural protein in a yeast or other eukaryotic host cell.

Description

PRODUCTION OF IBDV VP2 IN HIGHLY IMMUNOGENIC FORM

Infectious Bursal Disease virus (IBDV) is a pathogen of major economic importance to the world's poultry industries. It causes severe immunodeficiency in young chickens by destroying the precursors of antibody- producing B cells in the bursa of Fabricius, one of the two major immunological organs of birds. Young chickens can be passively protected by maternal antibodies

deposited in the egg yolk. An inactivated whole virus vaccine is presently used in a vaccination strategy aimed at achieving high levels of maternal antibodies in fertilized eggs to protect the chickens throughout the critical first 4 to 5 weeks after hatching. However, this vaccine is expensive and difficult to produce because the virus has to be grown in the bursae of specific pathogen-free chickens. This also leads to a lot of batch-to-batch variation in virus yields. It is a principal object of the present invention to overcome such problems by the development of a subunit/molecular vaccine based on an isolated viral antigen.

The genome of IBDV has been cloned and sequenced (International Patent Application PCT/AU86/00156), and the probing of the expression products of a range of deletion mutants with a number of virus neutralizing mouse monoclonal antibodies (VN MAbs) has shown that the conformational VN epitope is encoded by a 437 bp Accl- Spel fragment within the VP2 gene ( International Patent Applications PCT/AU86/00156 and PCT/AU88/00206). It has previously been shown that VP2 expressed as a large β-galactosidase fusion protein in E. coli can induce the production of virus-neutralizing and

protective antibodies in chicken (International Patent Application PCT/AU88/00206). However, the immunogenicity is very poor, and very large quantities (>1mg/chicken) of the fusion protein have to be injected in order to elicit the protective immune response. This poor immunogenicity is due to the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies in which the VN epitopes are presumably buried or

incorrectly processed or folded, and these inclusion bodies cannot be solubilized and refolded to generate the critical VN epitope. This difficulty of expressing VP2 in a highly immunogenic form is compounded by the

conformation dependence and extreme hydrophobicity of the VP2 molecule. It is, therefore, very important to express VP2 in a form in which the VN epitope is both correctly-folded and readily accessible.

Because the expression of VP2 as a large fusion protein as described above resulted in the formation of insoluble inclusion bodies, attempts have been made to express VP2 in an unfused form with the expectation that the soluble expression product would adopt the correct conformation. Using previously available clones in which the five N-terminal amino acids were missing from the VP2 gene sequence, the present inventors were, however, unable to produce unfused VP2 in any significant amount in E. coli and none at all in yeast, and this may be due to increased susceptibility of the unfused VP2 molecule to proteolytic degradation. According to the present invention, there is provided a highly immunogenic form of the VP2 structural protein of IBDV which comprises a high molecular weight aggregated form of VP2 produced by expression of a nucleotide sequence coding for the VP2 structural protein or a polypeptide displaying the antigenicity of all or a part of the VP2 structural protein.

Preferably, the high molecular weight aggregated form of VP2 is produced by expression of an appropriate nucleotide sequence in yeast, for example in

Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Kluweromyces lactis. or another eukaryotic host cell. Preferably also, the nucleotide sequence is one which is expressed as a VP2 construct having a short N- terminal fusion, for example a construct in which the five N-terminal amino acids of native VP2 have been restored, or constructs in which these amino acids have been replaced by an octapeptide sequence such as MNSSSVPG (for construct expressed in E. coli) or MFSELDPQ (for construct expressed in yeast).

In another aspect, the present invention provides a vaccine composition for stimulating an immune response against IBDV, which comprises the highly immunogenic form of the VP2 structural protein of IBDV as described above, together with an acceptable carrier therefor.

Optionally, the composition may also comprise an

adjuvant.

The invention also extends to a method for the preparation of this highly immunogenic form of VP2, which comprises expression of an appropriate nucleotide

sequence, particularly in yeast, as well as to

recombinant DNA molecules, recombinant DNA cloning vehicles or vectors and host cells (including yeast cells) as broadly described in International Patent Application No. PCT/AU86/00156, which comprise a

nucleotide sequence which is capable of being expressed as this highly immunogenic form of VP2.

The five N-terminal amino acids of the VP2 molecule are not present in VP2 constructs such as clone PO described in International Patent Applications Nos. PCT/AU86/00156 and PCT/AU88/00206. Expression of the PO insert in certain E. coli expression vectors and yeast expression vector pAAH5 (obtained from Dr. B.D.Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.A.) which should give rise to unfused VP2, did not result in stable synthesis of VP2 protein. It has now been found that replacement of these N-terminal amino acids with a small N-terminal fusion or the restoration of the "native" or "near native" N-terminus is sufficient to stabilise the recombinant VP2, and therefore, leads to higher yields. The inclusion of a short N-terminal fusion sequence is preferred, as it was found that the longer the N-terminal fusion the greater is the tendency to form insoluble inclusion bodies. The addition of only eight amino acids, from the multiple cloning site of expression vector pTTQ18 (Amersham), at the N-terminus stabilized the expression of VP2 in E. coli . Similar results were obtained in yeast when eight amino acids from the N- terminus of the CUPl gene product (for intracellular production), or the pre-pro sequence of MFαl gene product (for extracellular production) were added to the N- terminus of VP2. These results show that very small N- terminal fusions are sufficient for the stabilization of the VP2 expression products in both E. coli and yeast. Further, addition of the sequence MSLNS, a "near native" sequence that differs from the "native" or wild-type N- terminal sequence MTLNS at only the second position, resulted in stable synthesis of unfused VP2 in yeast. Other sequences with similar structural properties should also provide N-terminal stability to VP2.

About 60-80 percent of the VP2 produced with small N-terminal fusion remained in the supernatant when the bacterial or yeast lysates were spun at 12,000 rpm. Most of the remaining VP2 was associated with membranous material present in the 12,000 rpm pellet. In E. coli , there was evidence of small amounts of inclusion bodies also being formed. Some non-ionic detergents selectively removed membrane proteins from the 12,000 rpm pellets but did not solubilize the VP2 present in the pellet.

The recombinant VP2 contained in yeast cell lysates, when injected into chickens, induced high titres of antibody which neutralized the infectivity of IBDV in cell-cultures, reacted with the virus in the ELISA, and when injected into young chickens, conferred passive protection against infection. More particularly, eggs laid by vaccinated hens were found to contain high titres of antibody to IBDV in their yolk, and the chickens hatched from fertile eggs from vaccinated hens had high titres of circulating maternal antibodies. The level of maternal antibody was sufficient to protect some of the chickens for up to 3 weeks after hatching, against an intraocular challenge with 100 times an infectious dose of IBDV (002/73).

The minimum protective titres of maternal antibody in the circulation of progeny from hens vaccinated with recombinant VP2 were similar to those reported for maternal antibodies to whole IBDV (Fahey et. al. , 1987). This indicated that the protective ability of antibodies to recombinant VP2 were similar to antibodies to the original intact virus. Studies on the decline in the titre of maternal antibodies to recombinant VP2 in progeny chickens showed that it had a half life of 6 days, which is similar to that reported previously for the half life of antibodies to the original intact virus (Fahey et. al ., 1987).

When recombinant VP2 vaccine was injected into adult hens which had previously been primed (sensitized) by exposure to the live virus, it induced an anamnestic serum antibody response, both of virus neutralizing and ELISA antibody.

Further features of the present invention are described in the following Examples, and in the

accompanying drawings. In the Examples, standard

techniques were used as described in well known texts, including Maniatis et.al. "Molecular Cloning; A

Laboratory Manual", (1982) Cold Spring Harbor.

Restriction enzymes were used in accordance with

manufacturer's instructions.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows the construction of yeast and E. coli vectors for the expression of IBDV antigens. A.

Schematic representation of the IBDV polyprotein sequence in clone pEX.PO (described in PCT/AU86/00156). Square blocks depict repeats of the pentapeptide sequence AXAAS that occur four times in the polyprotein. B. The vector pYELC5 employed for the copper inducible expression of foreign proteins in yeast. C. Expression clones for the production of IBDV antigens, (i) clone pYELC5.P0 was constructed by inserting a Smal-PstI fragment (3.0 kb) encoding the IBDV polyprotein into pYELC5 cut with Pvull and Pstl. (ii) Clone pYELC5.PO.ΔXhoI was constructed by deleting the Xhol fragment from pYELC5.PO. This removes all the IBDV sequences downstream of the Xhol site including the translation stop codon at the C-terminus of the polyprotein, as well as the CUPIS downstream

sequences including the CUP1 transcription terminator. The next in-phase translation stop codon is present about 0.3 kb downstream of the Xhol site resulting in the addition of ca. 12 KDa of irrelevant protein at the C- terminus of VP2. (iii) A refinement of pYELC5.POΔXhoI in which translation is stopped shortly after the AXAAS is pYELC5.POΔT. This construct has an oligonucleotide translation terminator inserted into the Xhol site of pYELC5.POΔXhoI. In Western blots with MAb 9/6, a single product the size of IBDV VP2a (ca 41 kD; Azad et . al . , 1987) is seen in a lightly loaded gel. The translation product is expected to differ from that of pYELC5.VP2T

(see below) by having 3 fewer amino acids (RIH) at the C- terminus. Translation in pYELC5.POΔT is designed to terminate immediately after the AX (actually AR) of the second AXAAS. ( iv) Other constructs derive from pYELC5.VP2J, constructed by the insertion of the Smal - Xhol fragment into the PvuII - Sall sites of pYELC5.

This construct has a yeast CZ7P2 transcription terminator but translation stops some 65 codons downstream from the second AXAAS. (v and vi) The missense translation in pYELC5.VP2J has been overcome by two strategies.

pYELC5.VP2J has been cleaved with PstI and then the 3' overhanging ends have been removed by treatment with T4 polymerase in the presence of dNTPs. The religation of this produces pYELC5.VP2T (v) and in this vector

translation is terminated much earlier, almost

immediately downstream of the second AXAAS sequence.

When religation is performed in the presence of the oligonucleotide dCGGATCCG the downstream CUP1 sequences can be brought into frame generating pYELC5.VP2C (vi). This results in a metallothionein fusion to VP2.

D. The E. coli expression clone pTTQ18.VP2 was

constructed by inserting a Smal-Xbal fragment from clone pEX.PO ΔXhoI-PstI (PCT/AU88/00206) into the vector pTTQ18 (Pharmacia) cut with Smal and Xbal.

Figure 2 shows the cloning strategy for the six yeast expression constructs described in Figure 1. Figure 3 shows Western blots of IBDV antigens produced by yeast transformants. Proteins were Western blotted in duplicate. Filter A was probed with anti-VP2 MAb 9/6 and filter B was probed with anti-VP3 MAb 17/80. The protein bands were visualized by reacting the filters with goat anti-mouse IgG horse radish peroxidase

conjugate (Bio-Rad) followed by HRP colour developing reagent as described by Bio-Rad. Proteins displayed are from yeast transformed with vectors pYELC5 (lane 1), pYELC5.PO (lane 2), pYELCR.POΔXhol (lane 3), pYELC5.VP2T (lane 4) and from IBDV (lane 5). Pre-stained molecular weight markers are in lane M. The arrows pointing to filter A indicate the positions of VP2a (41 kDa) and VP2b (37 kDa), and the arrow pointing to filter B indicates the position of VP3 (32 kDa). The polypeptide bands (lane 2) larger than VP2a on filter A and VP3 on filter B respectively, represent incomplete cleavage of the precursor polyprotein expressed from the large genomic segment in clone pYELC5.PO.

Figure 4 shows gel-filtration of pYELC5.P0 lysate on Sephacryl S.300 column. The top panel shows reactivity of column fractions with various MAbs; •—• anti-VP3 MAb 17/80; ▼—▼ VN MAb 9/6; ■—■ VN MAb 39A. The bottom panel shows the A₂₈₀ profile (solid line) and the amount of protein present in different fractions (•---•).

O—O proteolytic activity measured at A₅₉₅nm of supernatant containing soluble peptides released following incubation of samples with Remazol Blue dye conjugated to hide powder.

Figure 5 shows gel-filtration of pTTQ18.VP2 lysate on Sephacryl S.300 column. The top panel shows

reactivity with VN MAbs 9/6 (▼—▼) and 39A (■—■). The bottom panel shows the A₂₈₀ profile (solid line) and the amount of protein in individual fractions (•---•). Figure 6 shows serum antibody responses of adult hens vaccinated with inactivated native VP2a/2b or either of two recombinant subunit vaccines. Groups of 4 hens were inoculated i.m. with either 20 μg VP2a/2b or 45 μg of either pYELC.5-PO or pYELC.5-VP2 in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The recombinant proteins were the resuspended 40 K pellets from the S300 void volume fractions of 12 K supernates of each yeast cell lysate. A: ELISA titres; B: Virus neutralization titres.

Figure 7 shows Western blot analyses of the VP2 present in the void volume (tubes 45-55) and included volume (tubes 81-90) fractions of yeast and E. coli lysates subjected to gel-filtration (Figures 3 and 4). Samples analysed were: 1. pYELC5.PO; 2. pYELC5 POΔXhoI; 3.pYELC5.VP2T; 4. pTTQ18.VP2. a and b represent protein present in the void volume and included volume fractions, respectively. Filter A was probed with anti-VP2 MAb 9/6 and filter B was probed with anti-VP3 MAb 17/80.

Figure 8 shows proteolytic activity (A_595nm) of

resolubilised pellets obtained following precipitation with PEG 4000. Aliquots of void sample (tubes 47-57, Fig.4); included sample (tubes 84-92, Fig.4) and

unfractionated 3 K supernatant were mixed with PEG 4000, stored overnight at 4°C and centrifuged at 2500 g. •—• void sample; •---• included sample; o—o 3 K supernate.

Figure 9 shows the cloning strategy for the

restoration of the N-terminus of the VP2 protein.

Figure 10 shows agarose gel of PCR amplified DNA fragments.

The complimentary DNA obtained from genomic RNA using oligonucleotide N527 in reaction A (wells, 1, 3, 5, 8) or oligonucleotide N526 in reaction B (wells 2, 4, 6, 9), was used as template in PCR amplification with primers N526 and N527 (wells 1, 2, 5, 6, 7) or with primers N528 and N533 (wells 2, 3) or without primers (wells 8, 9). The molecular weight marker in well 10 is Drigest (Pharmacia). For the PCR amplification in wells 5 and 6 a different PCR buffer has been used than in wells 1 and 2.

Figure 11 shows construction and maps of plasmids. A. pIP41:

VP2 (of strain 002-73) was subcloned as a 1.5 kb Smal-Xbal fragment from plasmid pEX.POΔXhOl-Pstl into the Smal-Xbal sites of pTTQ18 (Amersham) to give pTTQ18-VP2. The small Dτal-Sall fragment was then deleted to remove the lacZα fragment and a

12-mer BamHl linker (Pharmacia) and the f1 intergenic region from pUC-f1 (Pharmacia) were inserted at that position to give pIP41.

Expression of VP2 is under control of the tac promoter and single stranded DNA can be obtained using M13 helper phage.

B. pIP201:

The EcoRl-Xhol fragment of pIP41 containing VP2 of strain 002-73 has been replaced by the homologous region from variant strain E, obtained by PCR amplification of genomic RNA.

C. pIP207:

The small SacI fragment of pIP201 containing the C-terminal half of VP2 has been replaced by the homologous fragment from pIP41. The VP2 hybrid protein consists of a N-terminal half from variant E fused to the C-terminal half from strain 002-73.

D. Yeast expression vector pIP211:

The Sacl-Xhol fragment of pYELC5.POΔXhoI

containing the C-terminal half of VP2 has been replaced by the homologous fragment of pIP201. T s gives rise to a VP2 hybrid consisting of the N-terminal half from strain 002-73 and the C- terminal half from variant strain E.

Figure 12 shows dot blots of E. coli lysates with monoclonal antibodies.

The 3K supernatants of E. coli lysates were adjusted to identical protein concentrations and 1:5 dilutions (A to F) were loaded onto dot blots. The lysates from pIP41, pIP201, pIP207 and 5 μg IBDV viral proteins were analysed in dot blots with MAb39A, MAb9/6 and MAb6/1 as indicated. Figure 13 shows the dose response of adult chickens of pYELC5-VP2 in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The serum was assayed for the titre of ELISA (A) and virus

neutralizing (B) antibody. Figure 14 shows the serum antibody response of two primed adult hens to 45 μg of pYELC5-VP2 in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The serum was assayed for the titre of ELISA (A) and virus neutralizing (B) antibody. EXAMPLE 1

Immunological characterization of E.coli derived VP2 with small N-terminal fusion.

A large number of VP2 constructs with various lengths of N-terminal fusions have been produced in

E. coli , and it was found that the degree of insolubility due to formation of inclusion bodies tended to increase with increase in length of N-terminal fusion. The construct pTTQ18.VP2 (see Fig.1D) in which the five N- terminal amino acids of VP2 were replaced with eight amino acids MNSSSVPG from the pTTQ18 vector, was found to be the most suitable as the expression levels were reasonably high, the product was very stable, and up to 80 percent remained in the 12,000 rpm supernatant. It reacts very strongly with a large number of VN MAbs

(described in International Patent Application

PCT/AU88/00206). On Western blots, it reacts with anti- VP2 MAbs that recognize denatured VP2. Under non- denaturing conditions, it reacts strongly with VN MAb 39A that only recognizes the conformational epitope

suggesting that at least part of the molecule is

correctly folded. Construct pTTQ18.VP2 is also

immunoprecipitated with a large number of VN MAbs. As shown in Table 1, when injected into chickens it produces anti-VP2 antibodies, however the antibodies do not neutralize the virus to any significant extent. This situation did not improve when immunostimulating

complexes (ISCOMS) were made from the E. coli derived VP2.

EXAMPLE 2

Immunoloσical characterization of yeast-derived VP2

The yeast constructs are shown in Fig.1C and the cloning strategy is set out in Fig.2. The VP2 expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been produced using the copper-inducible expression vector pYELC5 (see Fig.1B; Australian Patent Application 15845/88), and the

Kluyveromyces lactis construct has been produced using the K. lactis vector E1 (kindly supplied by Dr. D. Clark- Walker, Australian National University, Canberra,

Australia). In all the yeast constructs, the 5 N- terminal amino acids of VP2 were replaced by an

octapeptide MFSELDPQ derived from the N-terminus of the yeast CUP1 gene product. The pYELC5.PO construct

contains the entire large segment of the IBDV genome which encodes a precursor polyprotein. In yeast, as in E. coli , the precursor polyprotein is cleaved to give rise to VP2, VP3 and VP4. The CUP1 octapeptide is present at the N-terminus of the cleaved VP2 molecule. The VP2 molecule produced in clone pYELC5.POΔXhoI contains an additional 12 KDa of 'irrelevant' protein at the C- terminus. The 'irrelevant' protein is not present in VP2 produced in clone pYELC5.VP2T in which a translational stop codon has been introduced at the C-terminus of the VP2 molecule. The K. lactis VP2T has the same insert as in pYELC5.VP2T. Western blots of the expression p;roducts probed with the anti-VP2 MAb 9/6, and anti-VP3 MAb 17/80 show (Fig.3) that the expression of the large genomic segment of IBDV (clone pYELC5.PO) in yeast results in the

production of correctly processed VP2 and VP3 from the precursor polyprotein as found in E. coli and cell-free translation systems. As expected, VP3 is not produced in clones pYELC5.POΔXhoI and pYELC5.VP2T because of the deletion of the VP4 and VP3 encoding regions (Fig.1). The VP2 molecule produced in pYELC5.POΔXhoI has an additional 12 KDa of irrelevant protein at the C-terminus and has a slower electrophoretic mobility than the correct-sized VP2 produced in clone pYELC5.VP2T in which a translation stop codon has been introduced at the C- terminus. The bands appearing below VP2a are degradation products.

In order to assess immunogenicity, antibodies were raised against the yeast-derived IBDV antigens by a single intramuscular injection of the yeast lysate, 12 K rpm supernatant, or column-derived fractions (equivalent in reactivity on serial dot blots with VN MAbs to 50 micrograms of viral VP2), in Freund's incomplete adjuvant into unprimed SPF chickens in duplicate. All the yeast constructs have in vitro antigenic properties identical to that of native VP2 and the E. coli construct

pTTQ18.VP2. When they are emulsified in adjuvant and injected into chickens they produce very significant ELISA and VN titres (Table 2), and the sera from the inoculated birds are able to passively protect young chickens from IBDV infection (Table 3). Thus, the yeast- derived VP2, is immunogenically very similar to native viral VP2, in that it induces a protective antibody response in chickens.

EXAMPLE 3

Gel-filtration and sedimentation of yeast- and E.coli- derived VP2.

When the 12,000 rpm supernatants of the E. coli pTTQ18.VP2 or the yeast VP2 constructs were subjected to gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300 column, the VP2 eluted in two distinct fractions (Figures 4 and 5). There was a big peak in the void volume which is very milky in appearance in yeast and less so in E. coli , and which contains very little protein. The column fractions were dot-blotted onto nitrocellulose filter and probed with various monoclonal antibodies to localize the IBDV antigens. The anti-VP3 MAb 17/80, as expected, reacts only with material from clone pYELC5.PO as this is the only clone which contains IBDV genetic material other than the VP2 gene. The reaction is confined to the void volume fractions. VN MAb 9, which recognizes undenatured and denatured VP2, reacts with both the void volume and included volume fractions of the yeast constructs

pYELC5.PO (Fig.4), pYELC5.POΔXhoI, pYELC5.VP2T, K. lactis VP2T (result not shown), and the E. coli construct pTTQ18, VP2 (Fig.5). VN MAb 39A, which only recognizes

undenatured VP2, reacts predominantly with the void volume fractions from all the above constructs suggesting that more of the correctly-folded molecules are present in the void volume.

In all the yeast constructs and in pTTQ18.VP2, the VP2 present in the void volume quantitatively sediments when spun at 40,000 rpm for one hour. The VP2 present in the included volume does not sediment under similar conditions. This suggests that the VP2 eluting in the void volume is present in a high molecular weight

aggregated form. In clone pYELC5.PO, both VP2 and VP3 are present in the void volume, and about 50% of the VP3 co-sediments with VP2 on high speed centrifugation. Void volume material immunoprecipitated with anti-VP3 MAb does not react with anti-VP2 MAbs on Western blots, and material precipitated with anti-VP2 MAb does not react with anti-VP3 MAb (results not shown). This would indicate that in pYELC5.PO, the VP2 and VP3 present in the void volume are not complexed to each other. The 40,000 rpm pellet of the void volume fraction of

PYELC5.PO, contains both VP2 and VP3, but this pellet is no more immunogenic than 40,000 rpm pellets obtained from the other yeast constructs (Fig. 6a, 6b). This supports the earlier disclosure that VP2 is the major host- protective antigen of IBDV (PCT/AU86/00156) and

PCT/AU88/00206).

Electron micrographs of the void volume material do not show any defined particulate structures, but do form irregular dense bodies that specifically bind VN MAbs and immunogold particles (results not shown).

EXAMPLE 4

Western blot analyses of VP2 and VP3 fractionated by gel filtration.

The Western blots of the Sephacryl S-300 column fractionated yeast in E. coli constructs are shown in Fig.7. The void volume fraction of the E. coli pTTQ18.VP2 contains totally undegraded VP2, while the included volume fractions contained some degraded material

(Fig.7). The void volume fractions of pYELC5.PO and pYELC5.VP2T and K. lactis VP2T contain a prominent 41 kDa band corresponding to VP2a, and in pYELC5.POΔXhoI a band about 12 kDa larger than VP2a because of the presence of 'irrelevant' E. coli sequence at the C-terminus. Various amounts of degraded VP2 are also present in the void volume of all the yeast constructs. The extent of breakdown is least pronounced in pYELC5.VP2T and K. lactis VP2T (results not shown). The void volume fraction of pYELC5.PO contains fully processed VP3 showing that its presence in the void volume is not due to unprocessed precursor polyprotein. The extent of breakdown is quite extensive in the included volume fractions of the

S.cerevisiae products. It would thus appear that in both E. coli and yeast, undegraded VP2 tends to be present primarily in a high molecular weight aggregated form.

All the above results with yeast constructs were obtained with yeast cells treated with zymolyase to convert them to spheroplasts, followed by a brief

sonication. This method took up to two hours and led to the release or activation of cellular proteases. In an alternative procedure, the extent of proteolytic

degradation can be minimized by rapid breakage (2

minutes) of cells with glass beads in a Braun

Homogenizer, followed by separation of the high molecular weight aggregate from soluble proteins (including

proteases) by gel-filtration or sedimentation. The presence of protease inhibitors such as PMSF and the lowering of pH during extraction may also be used to minimize degradation of VP2.

EXAMPLE 5

Immunogenicities of the void volume and included volume fractions.

The included volume fractions from the yeast constructs and E. coli pTTQ18.VP2 were non-immunogenic.

On the other hand, the VP2 present in the void volume of all the yeast constructs, but not E. coli pTTQ18.VP2, was highly immunogenic (Table 4). Thus, yeast-derived VP2 present in a high molecular weight aggregated form, but not its E. coli counterpart, produces a protective immune response in chickens.

EXAMPLE 6

Purification of Recombinant IBDV VP2.

Recombinant VP2 produced intracellularly in yeast is subject to proteolytic degradation, and the presence of some cellular proteins could lead to antigenic competition. It is, therefore, desirable to isolate the VP2 molecule in a form where it is both immunogenic and free of degradative proteases. Recombinant VP2 in yeast lysates is present in two forms - multimeric and

monomeric. These forms can be separated by Sephacryl S300 gel permeation chromatography (Example 3). The multimeric form is less degraded (Example 4), and is highly immunogenic (Example 5). Most of the protease activity present in the yeast lysate elutes after this void volume fractions containing the multimeric VP2. This could account for the greater stability of the VP2 present in the void volume. Thus, gel-filtration

effectively separates the multimeric and immunogenic form of VP2 from the cellular proteases. The VP2 eluting in the void volume can be precipitated with 4% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 2 C, 1 hour). The precipitate, which can be recovered by low-speed centrifugation (2000 g x 10 min.), contains most of the VP2 activity (as assessed by reaction with MAb 39A) and is free of the majority of degradative proteases (Figure 8). The monomeric form of VP2 eluting in the included volume is not precipitated at PEG concentrations of up to 10%.

The multimeric and immunogenic form of VP2 can also be recovered from the yeast 3K supernatant (without prior gel-filtration) by precipitation with 4% PEG as described above. As can be seen in Figure 8, protease activity is precipitated in increasing quantities from the 3K

supernatant as the PEG concentration is increased. At 4% PEG relatively little of the yeast protease is co- precipitated with VP2. The VP2 precipitate can be stably stored in 4% PEG, as at this and higher concentrations of PEG, protease activity appears to be inhibited. Recombinant VP2 from yeast and E. coli can also be recovered in a multimeric and immunogenic form by using an aqueous two-phase system consisting of PEG and

Dextran. Yeast lysates, obtained by glass-bead

disruption in a Braun homogenizer, are made 7% in PEG 6000, 5% Dextran T500, 2M NaCl, 50 mM phosphate buffer pH 6.8, and incubated for 5 min. at RT. Low- speed

centrifugation results in the formation of two phases separated by a distinct intraphase containing cell debri . The lower Dextran-rich phase contains the bulk of the cellular proteins and nucleic acids. The PEG- enriched upper phase contains relatively pure VP2 which can be recovered by incubation in the cold followed by low-speed centrifugation.

EXAMPLE 7

Restoration of the N-terminus of VP2 protein.

DNA sequences encoding the N-terminus of the IBDV polyprotein were restored by manipulation of the E. coli vector PO. The clone pEX.PO (Hudson et . al . , 1986) contains coding information for all but the first five amino acids of the IBDV polypeptide that is encoded by the large dsRNA segment of IBDV. The vector pEX.PO was cut with Narl and Xmal cleaving out 3 kb of lacZ

sequence. The remainder was fused together in the presence of T4 DNA ligase and duplexed oligonucleotides as shown. The resulting plasmids, p501 and p502, are 6 kb in size and differ from pEX.PO in having a 3 kb deletion. In place of the deletion they have inserted artificial oligonucleotide duplexes of less than 0.03 kb capable of encoding the first five amino acids (MTNLS- native, or MSNLS- yeast preferred) of the polyprotein.

The constructs were designed to maximize

translation in yeast by having an optimal codon usage and an efficient translational initiator. As stated above, the oligonucleotides were synthesized in pairs as

mixtures. In order to rapidly distinguish the

oligonucleotides cloned, a further oligonucleotide, 3'OH TGT TAC TGA TTG A 5'OH was synthesized. This was kinased with radioactive ATP and hybridized to the DNA prepared from the clones. At 18ºC this oligonucleotide hybridized to all clones containing added duplexes, but at 30°C only the perfect match remains hybridized.

The constructs (p501 and p502) shown in Figure 9 were formed directly from this process. They have four nucleotides too many but are suitable candidates for restoration of the reading frames. This was achieved in two steps, the first by cleaving these constructs with Xmal . The endonuclease Xmal cleaves the recognition sequence in duplex DNA CCCGGG, leaving single stranded ends 5'CCGG. Such ends were readily removed by treatment with the exonuclease Mung Bean Nuclease (Pharmacia) according to the procedure described by New England

Biolabs. Following these treatments the cleaved vectors were intramolecularly re-ligated to produce the in-frame constructs, p601 and p611 whose partial sequences, along with those of their parental vectors, are listed below.

PO Constructs with Modified N-Termini

Sequence of N-Terminal Region Frameshift Clone Name M S N L S ? D Q

ATG TCT AAC TTG TCC C GGG GAT CAA +1 OR +4 p501

M T N L S ? D Q

ATG ACT AAC TTG TCC C GGG GAT CAA +1 OR +4 P502

M S N L S D Q ATG TCT AAC TTG TCG GAT CAA in frame p601

M T N L S D Q ATG ACT AAC TTG TCG GAT CAA in frame p611

DNA from p601 and p611 has been cloned into the yeast pAAH5 vector. The in-frame construct produces the polyprotein which is processed. The levels of VP2 synthesized are low (as expected from this non-regulated expression vector) but the VP2 appears stable unlike previously expressed VP2 using pAAH5. EXAMPLE 8

Cloning and expression of the hosjt protective antigen VP2 of IBDV variant strain Delaware E.

Two distinct serotypes of IBDV (I and II) exist (McFerran et. al . , 1980; Jackwood et . al . , 1982), and antigenic variants occur within serotype I (Saif et . al. , 1987). Vaccination of breeder hens with recombinant VP2 from serotype I protects their offspring from IBDV infection, but a variant strain (Delaware E) resistant to vaccination with serotype I inactivated vaccine has emerged. Inclusion of the variant strain into a

commercial vaccine is highly desirable, as vaccination with a vaccine based on the escape mutant can protect against infection with the variant strain as well as the wild-type strain. Virus-neutralizing monoclonal

antibodies recognise a conformation dependent

discontinuous epitope within 145 amino acid residues in the middle of VP2 (Accl-Spel fragment) of strain 002-73 (PCT/AU88/00206). This epitope is changed in variant strain E as the virus-neutralizing MAb 39A does not react with viral proteins of strain E. VP2 of strain E has been cloned by constructing a cassette containing the immunogenic epitope and inserting it into expression vectors. This procedure could be used to clone and express the immunogenic fragments of any mutant which might arise in future, and would enable the quick

incorporation of newly emerging variants into a vaccine formulation. A. Materials and Methods

(a) Isolation of the viral genomic RNA.

The genomic RNA of variant strain Delaware E (provided by Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, U.K.) was isolated from IBDV infected bursae as described previously (Azad et. al. , 1985). A yield of 1.5 mg RNA was obtained from 70 g of bursae. (b) Design of primers for cDNA synthesis and PCR amplification.

DNA fragments suitable for subcloning were obtained by cDNA synthesis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of E-strain sequences using the genomic RNA as template and synthetic oligonucleotides containing homologies to VP2 as primers. At the 5' end of the primers restriction sites had been incorporated to facilitate the subcloning of the amplified fragments.

Five different primers were synthesized which will allow the replacement of either the Smal-Xhol , Smal-Spel, first Accl-Xhol or first Accl-Spel fragments of VP2 from the type I Australian strain 002-73 with the corresponding fragments of VP2 from strain E or any other variant strain (Table 5).

(c) Synthesis of first strand cDNA from IBDV strain E.

Genomic RNA was denatured by boiling followed by snap freezing and used as the template for the synthesis of the first strand of complementary DNA by reverse transcriptase from avian myoblastosis virus (AMV RTase, Pharmacia). The synthesis was primed either by

oligonucleotide N527 complementary to the N-terminus of VP2 (reaction A) to give the coding strand, or

oligonucleotide N526 complimentary to the C-terminus (reaction B) to give the non-coding strand.

(d) PCR amplification of cDNA.

Specific sequences from the first strand cDNA were amplified by PCR after hydrolyzing the RNA from the RNA- cDNA hybrid. Oligonucleotides N527 and N526

complementary to the N-terminal and C-terminal region of VP2 were used as primers. In a control reaction

oligonucleotide N526 was replaced by N533 complementary to the VP2 internal region at the Spel site and N527 was replaced by N528 also binding to the N-terminal region of VP2. The PCR conditions used were, 30 cycles of

denaturation at 95ºC for 1 min, annealing at 60ºC for 1 min and extension at 72ºC for 2 min. The reaction products were phenol extracted, ethanol precipitated and analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis (Fig.10).

(e) Subcloning into E.coli expression and sequencing vectors.

The ends of the PCR amplified DNA were trimmed in a double digest with EcoRI and Xhol , and the resulting 1.5 kb fragment was cut out of an agarose gel and extracted with Geneclean (Bio 101). This fragment was then ligated with the 4.1 kb EcoRl-Xhol fragment of pIP41 (Fig.11) where it replaced VP2 of the Australian strain 002-73. The clone pIP201 containing VP2 from strain E was

identified by restriction analysis and screening for VP2 expression in dot blots using monoclonal antibody (MAb) 6/1 that recognises a linear epitope at the C-terminus of VP2a (Azad et . al . , 1987).

Plasmid pIP207 was constructed to give a hybrid VP2 consisting of the N-terminal half from strain E and the C-terminal half from strain 002-73 fused at the VP2 internal Sad site. This was done by replacing the 1.4 kb SacI fragments of pIP201 with the corresponding fragment from pIP41 (Fig.11).

The M13 subclones for DNA sequencing were obtained by ligating restriction fragments of pIP201 into the appropriate sites in M13mp18 and M13mp19.

( ) Subcloning into S.cerevisiae strain 6657-4D.

Clone pIP211 was constructed by subcloning the Sacl-Xhol fragment containing the C-terminal half of VP2 from pIP201 into the yeast expression vector of

pYELC5.POΔXhoI (Fig.1c) where it replaced the

corresponding region of the Australian strain 002-73.

the plasmid was transformed into S.cerevisiae strain 6657-4D, and diploids were selected. S. cerevisiae clone pIP211 was analysed for copper inducible VP2 expression. The VP2 hybrid in clone pIP211 contains a N-terminal half from strain 002-73 and a C-terminal half (carrying the regions specific for MAb 39A binding) from strain E. The hybrid protein is fused at the SacI site within VP2. There are no amino acid changes in the N-terminal halves of the VP2 molecules from different IBDV strains. The presence of E-VP2 DNA in these constructs has been confirmed by restriction analyses.

(g) DNA seguencing.

Double-stranded sequencing and single-stranded sequencing of recombinant pIP201 or M13 clones was carried out using either the T7 polymerase (Pharmacia) or the Taq polymerase system (Promega), according to the manufacturer's instructions, with either the universal sequencing primer supplied in the kits or synthetic oligonucleotides based on sequences of IBDV strain 002- 73.

(h) Expression and characterization of recombinant

protein.

Plasmids were maintained in E. coli DH5α (BRL) in LB medium containing 0.4% glucose and 100 μg/ml ampicillin. The expression of VP2 under the control of the Taq promoter was induced by growing for 2h in the same medium containing 0.5 mM IPTG but omitting glucose.

In yeast the expression of VP2 from the CUPl promoter was induced by adding 0.5 mM CUSO₄ to YNB 2% glucose medium and growth for 2 h at 30°C.

Bacteria were lysed by lysozyme treatment and sonication. Yeast cells were lysed in a Braun

homogenizer.

Proteins were analysed by dot blots, SDS PAGE, and Western blots. B. Results and Discussion.

The host protective antigen VP2 of variant strain E of IBDV has been cloned from genomic RNA using

oligonucleotides complementary to conserved regions as primers for PCR. The amplification of the correct fragment was based on the finding that changes between strains 002-73 and E must have occurred in the middle of VP2 (Accl-Spel region) which forms the virus-neutralizing conformational epitope. The virus neutralizing MAb 39A does not recognise proteins of variant strain E.

(i) Cloning

The specificity of the primers for VP2 sequences in the synthesis of cDNA and the PCR could be shown by obtaining fragments of the expected size when different primers were used. Only VP2 specific DNA sequences were amplified. In a reaction containing primers N527 and N526 a 1.5 kb fragment corresponding to full length VP2 was amplified, whereas in a control reaction where primer N526 homologous to the VP2 C-terminus had been

substituted with primer N533 homologous to the region around the Spel site (amino acid residue 350), a smaller fragment of only 1 kb was synthesized as expected

(Fig.10).

The ends of the amplified 1.5 kb full length VP2 fragment could be trimmed with EcoRl and Xhol . When the fragment was inserted into the corresponding sites of pIP41, replacing VP2 of the Australian strain 002-73, those sites were maintained and in addition the Clal and Pvul sites present in the primer were incorporated. The correct clone pIP201 was confirmed by restriction

analysis with Clal and Pvul .

The differences in the N-terminus of VP2 from pIP41 and pIP201 are shown in Table 7.

(ii) DNA sequence.

The Sacl-Spel region of strain E containing the virus-neutralizing epitope has been sequenced and the resulting amino acid sequence was compared to the

sequence of strain 002-73 (Hudson et . al. , 1986). Both strains differ in 15 amino acid residues within the Sacl- Spel fragment (Table 9). The most striking features of the changes in variant E were a G317D and D322E

substitution in strain E in the region of the second hydrophilic peak. The E strain also contained a new unique lVcol restriction site and had lost the Stul site present in 002-73 allowing the convenient discrimination between 002-73 and E strain DNA sequences,

(iii) Expression.

Recombinant VP2 of strain E could be expressed from pIP201, but its binding to monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 9/6 and 6/1 was weaker than with VP2 of the Australian strain expressed from pIP41 (Fig.9). When assayed in dot blots with MAbs 6/1 and 9/6 the reactivity was only approx. 1/5, and reactivity with MAb 39A was lost

completely. VP2 of pIP201 and pIP41 differ in their N- terminus (Table 7) which might contribute to a reduced expression level or reduced stability in pIP201. To solve the question whether this difference is important or whether the expression levels are the same in both plasmids and only the epitopes are altered and account for reduced binding, VP2 hybrid proteins between

Australian and E strain have been constructed and their reactivity with MAbs was compared on dot blots (Fig.12). Plasmid pIP207 contains a hybrid VP2

consisting of the N-terminal half from strain E and the C-terminal half from strain 002-73 fused at the VP2 internal SacI site. In plasmid 211 the order is reversed and the N-terminus of VP2 consists of sequences from strain 002-73, and the C-terminus from strain E.

The binding of the hybrid VP2 from pIP207

containing the modified N-terminus to MAbs 39A, 9/6 and 6/1 is the same as with pIP41 and much stronger than with pIP201 (Fig.9). This means that the expression levels of VP2 in pIP41, 201, 207 and 211 are not influenced by differences in the N-terminus, and only changes in the epitopes are contributing to differences in the

reactivity with MAbs.

Comparison of the binding activity of plasmids pIP207 and 211 leads also to the conclusion that the residues involved in the formation of the conformational virus-neutralizing epitope which is recognised by MAbs 39A and 9, is localized distal to the SacI site in the middle of VP2. The hybrid VP2 produced by pIP211 is therefore a promising candidate for a recombinant IBDV vaccine against variant strain E. The hybrid VP2 from pIP211 has the same expression levels as the Australian strain 002-73 VP2 and contains the epitopes

characteristic for variant E. Chickens vaccinated with hybrid VP2 of pIP211 expressed in yeast produced

antibodies neutralize IBDV strain 002-73 (see Table 9).

Restriction sites (underlined) were incorporated at the 5' end of the primers to enable convenient cloning of the PCR amplified fragment. Nucleotides complementary to sequences of IBDV from strain 002-73 are marked by arrows (>>>). In N527, N528 and N531 the VP2 homologeous region is complementary to the non-coding strand, and in N526 and N533 complimentary to the coding strand of IBDV. In N527 the asterix (*) marks the G>T nucleotide substitution introduced to create the Clal site, and the ATG initiation codon forming part of the Clal site is shown in bold. In N528 the @ marks the A>C substitution to create the BamHI site. The corresponding amino acid residues of the coding strand are shown below the DNA sequence.

Both constructs contain a modified N terminus . Sequences corresponding to VP2 are printed bold. The numbers correspond to the residues in the native protein . VP2 of pIP41 begins with eight residues from the vector fused to residue 5Asp of VP2. In pIP201 six residues from the primer prec ede the Met start codon of VP2.

TABLE 9. Cross protection against the Australian

strain 002-73 by immunization with VP2 epitope from variant E.

Chicken serum antibody response to vaccination with recombinant hybrid VP2 ( N-terminal half from strain 002- 73 and C-terminal half containing the virus-neutralizing epitope from variant strain E ) from pIP211.

NOTE: ELISA titres and VN ( virus-neutralising ) titres are against the Australian 002-73 strain. EXAMPLE 9

Identification of residues involved in the binding of monoclonal antibodies to the virus-neutralizing epitope.

Virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies recognise a conformation dependent discontinuous epitope within 145 amino acid residues in the middle of VP2 (Accl-Spel fragment) (PCT/AU88/00206). This fragment consists predominantly of very hydrophobic residues but also contains two small hydrophilic stretches close to either end. Previous studies involving deletion-expression analyses, suggested that the two hydrophilic peaks may be important determinants in the formation of the

conformational epitope (PCT/AU88/00206 and Azad et.al., 1987). Thus the site-directed mutations were

concentrated in these areas. However the importance of the intervening hydrophobic region was also examined. Variant strain E, which is resistant to vaccination with serotype I inactivated vaccine and has lost the ability to bind to monoclonal antibody 39A specific for the virus-neutralizing conformational epitope proved to be valuable to identify the residues important for MAb 39A binding.

A. Materials and Methods.

1. Construction of pIP41 for mutaqenesis and

expression of VP2.

VP2 (of strain 002-73) was subcloned as a 1.5 kb

Smal-Xbal fragment from plasmid pEX.POΔXhoI-Pstl into the Smal-Xbal sites of pTTQ18 (Amersham) to give pTTQ18-VP2. The small Dral-Sall fragment was then deleted to remove the lacZα fragment and a 12-mer BamHI linker (Pharmacia) and the fl intergenic region from pUC-f1 (Pharmacia) were inserted at that position to give in pIP41. Expression of VP2 is under control of the tac promoter and single stranded DNA can be obtained using M13 helper phage.

2. Site directed mutaαenesis.

Single amino acid substitutions and deletions were produced by oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis of a single-stranded DNA template obtained from phagemid vector pIP41 (or pIP201 for the back-mutation of VP2 from strain E). Mutations were generated with the "dut ung" method or by using the Amersham mutagenesis kit. Amino acid insertions were created by introducing linkers into the unique StuI site in pIP41.

3. Screening and characterization of mutants.

The oligonucleotides used in the single amino acid substitutions were engineered so that they introduced new restriction sites into the plasmid to enable easy

identification. The linker inserts were also screened by restriction enzyme digestion. All mutants were sequenced by double-stranded DNA sequencing to confirm the expected substitutions and insertions.

The phenotype of the mutants was analysed using three different monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 9/6, 39A and

6/1. Cell lysates were assayed by immunoblotting and compared to the wild-type. MAbs 9/6 and 39A recognise the 145 amino acid region of VP2. MAb6 binds to an area outside Accl-Spel at the C-terminal end of VP2 and was used to detect non-specific changes in the protein caused by the mutants.

B. Results and Discussion.

(A) Mutagenesis within Accl-Spel region.

Conservative and non-conservative changes were introduced into the hydrophilic regions on either end of the Accl-Spel region and the contribution of the

hydrophobic region between those hydrophilic peaks was probed by linker insertion at the StuI site. The effect of the mutations on MAb binding was analysed by dot blotting. Substitution of the charged residues in the first hydrophilic peak to neutral residues had no

influence on the binding of MAbs (Table 10).

The insertion of four amino acids (either Pro Asp Pro Gly in pIP39, or Leu Thr Leu Thr in pIP47) into the hydrophobic region at the StuI site around residue 253 in VP2, specifically prevented the binding of MAbs 39A and 9/6. This region is therefore either part of the epitope or specifically involved in the formation of the epitope, as MAb 6/1 binding was not affected (Table 10).

Residues in the second hydrophilic region close to the Spel site around aa 300-320 are also important for the formation of the conformational epitope. A 23 residue deletion in pIP77 led to the loss of binding to MAb 39A and 9/6, but not MAb 6/1. Non-conservative single amino acid substitutions (Lys308Ala and Lys315Ala) in this region destroyed the conformation and led to an instability of the protein as MAb 6 binding was also affected. The conservative substitution Lys315Arg had no measurable effect on MAb binding. (b) Differences in the epitope of variant E.

The MAb 39A which recognises the conformational epitope in VP2 of strain 002-73 does not recognise VP2 of variant strain E. Residues responsible for the

differences in the conformati .al epitope between the Australian strain 002-73 and variant strain E, have been localised distal to the SacI site in the C-terminal half of VP2. This has been shown by creating VP2 hybrid proteins between the Australian strain and variant E (see previous Example 8, Figure 11) and analysing the binding of the products to MAbs in dot blots (see previous

Example 8, Figure 12). Dot blots of hybrid VP2 from plasmids pIP207 (E/002-73) and pIP211 (002-73/E) with MAb 39A showed that the C-terminal half determines the phenotype characteristic for each strain (Table 11; for details of plasmids see in previous Example 8, Figure 11).

The amino acid sequence of the AccI-Spel fragment of VP2 from variant strain E was compared with the corresponding fragment of the Australian strain 002-73. Between both strains only 14 residues are different in the 105 amino acid long Sacl-Spel fragment, and of those only two substitutions (317Asp and 322Glu in strain E compared with 317Gly and 322Asp in strain 002-73) occurred in the second hydrophilic peak (see previous Example 8, Table 8). The mutation of the single residue 322Glu in the second hydrophilic peak of VP2 from strain E in pIP201 to 322 Asp as in the sequence of the

Australian strain, was sufficient to restore the binding to the virus-neutralizing MAb 39A to the same level as in the 002-73 strain (Table 11). This residue is essential for the conformational epitope as serogroup specificity can be converted by a single bp change in this position.

C. Conclusions

Within the Accl-Spel fragment two regions

contributing to the formation of the virus neutralizing conformational epitope have been were identified by site directed mutagenesis. Residues in the hydrophobic region at the StuI site, and residues in the second hydrophilic region close to the Spel site, are specifically involved in the formation of the epitope recognised by MAbs 9/6 and 39A.

Residues contributing to the differences in the conformational epitope between strains 002-73 and variant E, and involved in binding to MAbs, have been localised distal to the SacI site in VP2. The back-mutation of a single residue 322Glu in strain E to 322Asp as in the sequence of the Australian strain was sufficient to restore the binding to the virus-neutralizing MAb 39A.

EXAMPLE 10

Transfer of maternal antibodies to eggs and progeny chickens of vaccinated hens.

Adult SPF White leghorn chickens were vaccinated twice at an interval of 8 weeks with 45 μg of recombinant protein in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The hens were artificially inseminated (Al) and fertile eggs collected. Yolk antibody was determined in eggs collected 3 to 6 weeks post-secondary vaccination by extraction with chloroform and reconstitution to their original volume. The titres of antibody shown in Table 12 are the mean of 5 to 8 eggs from each hen. Chickens were hatched from the Al hens between 6 and 15 weeks post-secondary

vaccination and bled from the wing at 3 days of age. The range of serum antibody levels in 10-15 chickens from each hen are shown in Table 12. All antibody titres were determined by ELISA. The mean titre of antibody in the egg yolk was half to one quarter that in the circulation of the donor hen, while the titre of antibody in the circulation of the hatched chickens was variable (Table 12). The antibody induced in the hens by the recombinant subunit IBD vaccines was transferred via the yolk to the progeny chickens.

EXAMPLE 11

Absorption of antiserum to native and recombinant VP2, with recombinant VP2.

To evaluate the antigenic relatedness of native VP2a/2b and recombinant VP2, various antisera were adsorbed a number of times with pYELC.5-POΔXhoI.

Aliquots of antisera ( initially 100 μl ) were mixed with an equal amount of pYELC.5-POΔXhoI (20 μg/100 μl) and reacted at 37°C for 1 hour. The antiserum was then centrifuged at 400,000 g/15 min. The antiserum was adsorbed in the same manner a further 3 times, with portions being taken at each step for titration by ELISA. The ELISA titre was adjusted for the dilution factor due to the additions of pYELC.5-POΔXhoI.

Table 13 shows that recombinant VP2 removed most of the ELISA antibody from antisera to native VP2a/2b and to pYELC.5-POΔXhoI. However, it removed a much smaller portion of the antibody to pYELC.5-PO.

Western blotting studies showed that the original and post-adsorption antiserum to pYELC.5-P0 contained antibodies to VP3 which were not removed by adsorption with recombinant VP2. This finding also explains the finding in Example 14, that higher titres of ELISA antibody were required in chickens from hens vaccinated with pYELC.5-PO to protect them against IBDV (002-73), the higher titres reflecting antibodies to VP3.

EXAMPLE 12

Dose response of chickens to pYELC.5-POΔXhoI.

Groups of four 6-week-old SPF White leghorn chickens were injected intramuscularly with 1.7 μg, 5 μg, 15 μg or 45 μg of pYELC.5-POΔXhoI in Freund's incomplete adjuvant. The recombinant protein was contained in the 3K supernate fraction from the yeast cell lysate. The chickens were bled from the wing vein at 2-weekly

intervals and the serum titrated for ELISA (A) and virus neutralizing (B) antibody. While the onset and magnitude of both the ELISA and neutralizing antibody responses were maximal with 45 μg dose, (Fig.13) and minimal with the 1.7 μg dose, there was no significant difference between the serum antibody titres in the different treatment groups 6 weeks post-vaccination.

EXAMPLE 13

Serum antibody response of primed hens to pYELC.5- POΔXhoI.

Hens exposed to IBDV (002-73) at 10 weeks of age were injected intramuscularly with 45 μg of pYELC.5- POΔXhoI in Freund's incomplete adjuvant at 20 weeks of age. Both the virus neutralizing and ELISA antibody titres increased significantly by 2 weeks post- vaccination (Fig.14), and the antibody titres remained elevated for at least a further 9 weeks. This experiment demonstrated that an oil adjuvant recombinant subunit vaccine is able to hyperimmunize primed hens, which is a common application of inactivated IBD vaccines in

commercial broiler breeding hens.

EXAMPLE 14

Minimum protective titre of maternal ELISA antibody in chickens hatched from artificially inseminated vaccinated hens.

Chickens hatched from SPF hens vaccinated twice with recombinant IBDV proteins, as outlined in Example 10, were challenged by the intraocular inoculation of 100 chick infectious doses of virulent IBDV (002-73), between 3 and- 28 days of age. While the majority of chickens had titres of circulating maternal antibody ≥ 6400 and were completely protected from infection, as assessed by the absence of IBD viral antigen in their bursae 3 days post challenge, a number of chickens had lower titres of antibody at post-mortem and some of these were infected. This enabled the minimum protective titre of maternal antibody to be estimated from the number of chickens with a particular titre of antibody at post-mortem which resisted the challenge infection. For chickens hatched from hens vaccinated with pYELC.5-P0 the minimum

protective titre of ELISA antibody was approximately 1,600 (Table 14) while for chickens hatched from pYELC.5- POΔXhoI vaccinated hens the minimum protective titre was approximately 400 (Table 14). The latter value is comparable to that reported previously for progeny of hens vaccinated with a conventional inactivated oil- emulsion IBD vaccine (Fahey et. al. , 1987). This

indicates that the protective efficacy of the antibody induced by pYELC.5-POΔXhoI, as assessed by ELISA, is comparable to that to whole IBD virus. Conversely the protective ELISA titre of antibody to pYELC.5-PO is much higher than to pYELC.5-POΔXhoI or whole virus, possibly due to the presence of antibodies to VP3 (see Example 11).

TABLE 14 Minimum protective titre of maternal ELISA antibody in chickens hatched from vaccinated hens and challenged with IBDV.

a Number of chickens infected/number of challenged chickens with a particular titre of maternal antibody when post-mortemed 3 days after challenge.

All infected chickens had ELISA titres of IBDV antigen in the bursal≥16. Groups of 5 age matched SPF chickens challenged with each groups of experimental chickens were uniformly susceptable to infection with IBDV.

REFERENCES:

Azad, A.A., Barrett, S.A. and Fahey, K.J. (1985).

Virology 143: 35-44. Azad, A.A., Jagadish, M.N., Brown, M.A. and Hudson, P.J. (1987). Virology 161: 145-152.

Brown, F. (1986). Intervirology, 25: 141-143. Dobos, P., Hill, B.J., Hallet, R. , Kells, D.T.C., Becht, H. and Teninges, D. (1979). Journal of Virology. 32: 593-605.

Fahey, K.J., Crooks, J.K. and Fraser, R.A. (1987).

Aust.Vet.J. 64: 203-207.

Hudson, P.J., McKern, N.M., Power, B.E. and Azad, A.A. (1986). Nucleic Acids Res. 14: 5001-5012. Jackwood, D.F., Saif, Y.M. and Hughes, J.H. (1982).

Avian Diseases. 26: 871-882.

McFerran, J.B., McNulty, M.S., McKilhop, E.R., Connor, T.J., McCracken, R.M., Collins, D.S. and Allan, G.M.

(1980). Avian Pathology. 9: 395-404.

Saif, Y.M., Jackwood, H.D., Jackwood, M.W. and Jackwood, D.J. (1987). Proceedings of the 36th Western Poultry Disease Conference. 110-111.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A highly immunogenic form of the VP2 structural protein of IBDV which comprises a high molecular weight aggregated form of VP2 produced by expression of a nucleotide sequence coding for the VP2 structural protein or a polypeptide displaying the antigenicity of all or a part of the VP2 structural protein in a yeast or other eukaryotic host cell.

2. A product according to claim 1, produced by expression of an appropriate nucleotide sequence in

Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Kluyveromyces lactis.

3. A product according to claim 1, comprising a VP2 construct having a short N-terminal fusion.

4. A product according to claim 3 wherein in said construct the five N-terminal amino acids of native VP2 have been replaced by an octapeptide sequence selected from MNSSSVPG and MFSELDPQ.

5. A product according to claim 4 produced by

expression of the nucleotide sequence of clone

pTTQ18.VP2, clone pYELC5.PO, clone pYELC5.POΔXhoI, clone pYELC5.POΔT, clone pYELC5.VP2J, clone pYELC5.VP2T, clone pYELC5.VP2C or clone K.lactis VP2T, as described herein.

6. A product according to claim 3, wherein in said construct the five N-terminal amino acids of native VP2 have been replaced by the pentapeptide sequence MSNLS.

7. A product according to claim 6, produced by expression of the nucleotide sequence of clone p611, as described herein.

8. A product according to claim 1, comprising a hybrid VP2 consistruct in which the N-terminal sequence is derived from a first strain of IBDV, and the C-terminal sequence is derived from a second strain of IBDV.

9. A product according to claim 1, comprising a hybrid VP2 construct in which at least a part of the Accl-Spel region of the VP2 structural protein of a first strain of IBDV is replaced with a corresponding part of the VP2 structural protein of a second strain of IBDV.

10. A product according to claim 1, comprising a polypeptide displaying the antigenicity of all or a part of the VP2 structural protein, produced by expression of the nucleotide sequence of plasmid pIP201, plasmid pIP207 or plasmid pIP211, as described herein.

11. A vaccine composition for stimulating an immune response against IBDV which comprises a highly

immunogenic form of the VP2 structural protein of IBDV according to any one of claims 1 to 10, together with an acceptable carrier therefor.

12. A vaccine composition according to claim 11, further comprising an adjuvant.

13. A recombinant DNA molecule comprising a nucloetide sequence coding for a product according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

14. A recombinant DNA cloning vehicle or vector

comprising a recombinant DNA molecule according to claim 13 and an expression control sequence operatively linked to said nucleotide sequence.

15. A host cell containing a recombinant DNA molecule according to claim 13, or a recombinant DNA cloning vehicle or vector according to claim 13.

16. A host cell according to claim 15 which is a yeast or other eukaryotic cell.

17. A host cell according to claim 16 which is

Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Kluveromyces lactis.

18. A method for the preparation of a highly

immunogenic form of VP2 of IBDV which comprises the step of culturing a host cell according to any one of claims 15 to 17 to obtain expression of the appropriate

nucleotide sequence therein, and recovery of the

expression product.