Project Number: 6420-32000-024-16
Project Type: Trust

Start Date: May 01, 2010
End Date: Apr 30, 2013

Objective:
To evaluate the potency of defined synthetic nucleic acid compounds (ORN/ODN) compounds as vaccine adjuvants to enhance the efficacy of killed Streptococcus vaccines for use in Aquaculture.

Approach:
The innate immune system of vertebrates has evolved the ability to recognize unmethylated CG dinucleotides within certain sequence contexts (CpG motifis) in bacterial and some viral DNA. The effect or potency of immunostimulatory CpG compounds (oligodeoxynucleotides [ODNs] and oligoribonucleotides [ORNs]) for the two inactivated Streptococcus vaccines will be evaluated in vitro using catfish head kidney (HK) cells or peritoneal macrophages. The effect or potency of CpG compounds (ORN or ODN) for the two inactivated Streptococcus vaccines will then be evaluated in vivo using Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. The efficacy of different formulations of inactivated vaccines will then be evaluated using Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Safety and efficacy tests will be performed using methods routinely used by ARS.