Study of protection by recombinant fowl poxvirus expressing C-terminal nucleocapsid protein of infectious bronchitis virus against challenge.

A stable recombinant fowl poxvirus (rFPV) expressing the C-terminal region (119 amino acids) of the nucleocapsid (N) protein of an infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strain Ch3 was constructed by inserting the coding sequence within the thymidine kinase gene of fowl poxvirus (FPV) by homologous recombination. The N protein was expressed under control of the vaccinia virus promoter P7.5 in chicken embryo fibroblast cell cultures as seen in immunofluorescence assay and in rFPV-inoculated specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens by detecting antibodies with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A homologous IBV strain (Ch3) and two heterologous IBV strains (Ch5 and H4) were used to inoculate SPF chickens in a challenge to examine the protective efficacy of the rFPV. When the chickens were challenged with IBV Ch3 or Ch5, the control birds had respiratory signs of infections bronchitis, whereas all the vaccinated birds were clinically normal although low levels of the IBV infection were detected by a differential ELISA. In contrast, in the chickens challenged with IBV H4, all control birds and vaccinated birds suffered from the highly lethal IBV H4 infection. Our results suggest that the C-terminal 119 amino acid of the nucleocapsid expressed by FPV is a host-protective antigen and may induce cross-protective immunity against illness among some IBV strains.