BBSRC-funded studentship: Analysis of the avian coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus as a potential vaccine vector

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Coronaviruses are associated with respiratory and enteric diseases in humans and livestock animals the latter resulting in high economic losses to the farming industry. Both live and attenuated coronavirus vaccines are used for the protection of livestock animals, especially in domestic chickens for protection against the avian coronavirus, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV); which mainly results in respiratory disease. Coronaviruses have the potential to be candidate vaccine vectors because they have restricted tissue and species specific tropisms and offer long lasting protection. We have previously demonstrated that foreign reporter genes can be expressed from defective RNAs (D-RNAs) in the presence of helper viruses and others have recently shown that recombinant coronaviruses are also capable of expressing foreign genes utilizing the same unique coronavirus transcriptional mechanism used for the expression of virus-derived proteins. The aim of this project is to investigate the suitability of IBV as a potential vector for the expression of heterologous genes and future use as a vaccine vector. Little is known about the genetic stability of recombinant IBVs expressing a foreign gene, although other coronaviruses have been found to be capable of expressing a foreign gene. The project will investigate the expression of two reporter genes, green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Renilla luciferase (RL), at various positions within the IBV genome. The two reporter genes will be inserted into the IBV genome using an IAH developed IBV reverse genetics system. The genetic stability of the rIBVs will be assessed in cell culture, passage in embryonated eggs and in tracheal organ cultures. There will also be the opportunity of using a rIBV expressing a reporter gene to (1) use live cell imaging to investigate the infectious cycle of IBV and (2) investigate the tissue distribution of IBV.

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