Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E21
Höfundar / Authors: Þorbjörg Einarsdóttir (1), Sigríður Hjartardóttir (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Tilraunastöð HÍ í meinafræði að Keldum
Kynnir / Presenter: Þorbjörg Einarsdóttir
Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a pathogen that causes atypical pneumoniae in sheep and goats. While infection of lambs can induce strong immune responses, typically measured as serum antibodies, experimental vaccines generally induce much lower antibody titers. Improved vaccination strategies rely on better understanding of the bacterium and its interaction with the host. In this study, we designed primers to compare seven M. ovipneumoniae gene sequences, in addition to the 16S sequence typically used, to estimate the variability between isolates. In addition, we labeled bacteria with a two-step process and found that the bacteria could be intracellular as well as on the host cell surface in vitro. This indicates that an optimal vaccine should induce both cellular and humoral responses. However, four vaccinations of sheep produced neither significant humoral or cellular responses in this study, likely due to previous exposure of the animals to mycoplasmas. We conclude that an alternative vaccination strategy, e.g. utilizing a recombinant vaccine, may be needed in endemic regions and we suggest a possible vaccine candidate.