AUTHOR=Marsian Johanna , Hurdiss Daniel L. , Ranson Neil A. , Ritala Anneli , Paley Richard , Cano Irene , Lomonossoff George P. 

TITLE=Plant-Made Nervous Necrosis Virus-Like Particles Protect Fish Against Disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00880

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.00880

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Virus-like particles (VLPs) of the fish virus, Atlantic Cod Nervous necrosis virus (ACNNV), were successfully produced by transient expression of the coat protein in <italic>Nicotiana benthamiana</italic> plants. VLPs could also be produced in transgenic tobacco BY-2 cells. The protein extracted from plants self-assembled into <italic>T</italic> = 3 particles, that appeared to be morphologically similar to previously analyzed NNV VLPs when analyzed by high resolution cryo-electron microscopy. Administration of the plant-produced VLPs to sea bass (<italic>Dicentrarchus labrax</italic>) showed that they could protect the fish against subsequent virus challenge, indicating that plant-produced vaccines may have a substantial future role in aquaculture.</p>