Use of enoyl coenzyme A hydratase of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis for the serological diagnosis of Johne's disease

Johne's disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), remains difficult to control because of the lack of specific and sensitive diagnostic tests. In order to improve the specificity of sero-diagnosis for JD, the phage display library derived from genomic DNA of MAP was immunoscreened to identify novel antigenic targets. We selected a clone using antibodies from MAP experimentally infected cattle, and annotated its coding sequence as MAP1197 in the MAP genome, which encoded “echA12_2” in the MAP protein (Map-echA) belonging to Enoyl-CoA hydratase, known as a crotonase enzyme. The Map-echA was expressed in Esherichia coli and purified as a histidine-tag recombinant protein (rMap-echA), and the diagnostic potential of the protein was further evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Antibody responses to rMap-echA were higher in MAP-infected cattle than in uninfected cattle. The specificity of the Map-echA ELISA was also confirmed by evaluation with hyper-immune sera against various kinds of Mycobacterium species. Furthermore, in all experimentally infected cattle the antibody against rMap-echA was detected 2–7 months earlier than by a commercially available ELISA kit. These results suggested that Map-echA can be used as a specific and sensitive serological diagnostic antigen for the detection of MAP infection.     

吕氏泰勒虫cDNA表达文库的构建及其抗原基因的免疫筛选

 【目的】构建吕氏泰勒虫裂殖子cDNA表达文库,并从中筛选抗原候选基因。【方法】从吕氏泰勒虫裂殖子直接提取和纯化mRNA,采用oligo（dT）引物合成双链cDNA,并在其两端加EcoRⅠ/HindⅢ定向接头。将所产生的cDNA分子定向克隆到具有EcoRⅠ/HindⅢ粘性末端的λSCREEN载体的两臂之间。用PhageMaker extract对连接产物进行体外包装以形成完整的噬菌体,并用之转染大肠杆菌ER1647,从而构建成吕氏泰勒虫的cDNA表达文库。用吕氏泰勒虫阳性血清和兔抗绵羊IgG-AP筛选得到阳性克隆,经测序和Blast软件分析并获得新基因。【结果】成功构建吕氏泰勒虫裂殖子cDNA表达文库,其初级库容量约为1.0×106 PFU,扩增文库的滴度为8.2×108 PFU?ml-1,文库重组率为100%;通过免疫学筛选、测序和Blast软件分析,共获得30个新基因,其中15个基因已登录GenBank/NCBI。【结论】为研究泰勒虫疫苗、新型医药和诊断抗原,以及发展可持续性防制羊泰勒虫病提供基本材料。