C-TERMINAL REGION OF VP1 OF SELECTED FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE VIRUS SEROTYPES: EXPRESSION IN E. COLI AND AFFINITY PURIFICATION

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), one of the most contagious and economically important diseases of farm animals, is caused by a FMD virus (FMDV) which belongs to the family of Picornaviridae. The virus occurs as seven serotypes of which four (A, O, C and Asia 1) are prevalent in India. Immuno-prophylaxis supported by precise diagnosis is the prime requirement for achieving the success in controlling the disease. Recently, recombinant DNA technology is gaining importance for the production of cost-effective and safer diagnostics and immunogens. Based on this approach, cDNA of a part of gene for major variable immunogenic region, VP1, of FMDV of four serotypes (A22, O, C and Asia 1) was amplified by PCR and cloned into expression vector. The expression of the 16°K protein gene from the clones was induced with IPTG and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE) and [35S]-methionine labeling. The immunoreactivity of the labeled proteins was assayed by immunoprecipitation with anti-FMDV type-specific sera. Since the proteins contain 6 His residues at the N-terminal end, their affinity purification was carried out using nickel nitrilo-tri-acetic acid (Ni-NTA) agarose matrix. The proteins were found to be immunoreactive and the useful in the FMD diagnosis.