Development and Assessment of Chimaeric Feline Caliciviruses as Vaccines. Feline caliciviruses are major pathogens of cats worldwide, but current vaccines offer only incomplete protection. This project aims to develop novel recombinant vaccine strains that will generate more cross protective immunity and thus provide greater protection for vaccinated cats.
Reducing antibiotic usage in pig herds: controlling Lawsonia intracellularis by vaccination, housing and hygiene. Pigs are major consumers of antibiotics in Australia. Many of these antibiotics are fed to pigs to prevent proliferative enteritis (PE). There are increasing public concerns regarding the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the potential impact on human health. The adoption of an effective commercial vaccine to prevent PE will reduce the volume of antibiotics ....Reducing antibiotic usage in pig herds: controlling Lawsonia intracellularis by vaccination, housing and hygiene. Pigs are major consumers of antibiotics in Australia. Many of these antibiotics are fed to pigs to prevent proliferative enteritis (PE). There are increasing public concerns regarding the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the potential impact on human health. The adoption of an effective commercial vaccine to prevent PE will reduce the volume of antibiotics used in the pig industry and hence reduce the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria developing.Read moreRead less
Development of an Attenuated Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus Vaccine. This project will develop novel methods for identification of genes involved in virulence of the important avian pathogen Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus and produce an attenuated, antigenically marked infectious laryngotracheitis virus vaccine strain by specific disruption and deletion of two or more genes in the virusÕs genome.
Infectious laryngotracheitis is a major disease of chickens throughout the world, but curre ....Development of an Attenuated Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus Vaccine. This project will develop novel methods for identification of genes involved in virulence of the important avian pathogen Infectious Laryngotracheitis Virus and produce an attenuated, antigenically marked infectious laryngotracheitis virus vaccine strain by specific disruption and deletion of two or more genes in the virusÕs genome.
Infectious laryngotracheitis is a major disease of chickens throughout the world, but current vaccines retain some capacity to cause disease. The development of novel attenuated vaccines will thus enhance control of this important disease of poultry.Read moreRead less
Alphaherpesvirus vaccination, recombination and latency; a study in the natural host. Attenuated alphaherpesvirus vaccines are used widely in production and companion animals to help control disease. These vaccines help to prevent clinical signs of disease following challenge with virulent viruses. There is also the potential to use these vaccines to help prevent latent herpesvirus infections, and to limit the opportunities for herpesvirus recombination to occur. This would enhance the ability t ....Alphaherpesvirus vaccination, recombination and latency; a study in the natural host. Attenuated alphaherpesvirus vaccines are used widely in production and companion animals to help control disease. These vaccines help to prevent clinical signs of disease following challenge with virulent viruses. There is also the potential to use these vaccines to help prevent latent herpesvirus infections, and to limit the opportunities for herpesvirus recombination to occur. This would enhance the ability to control disease in animal populations. This project aims to systematically study how vaccines may be used to limit latency and recombination events by studying avian infectious laryngotracheitis virus in the natural host leading to new insights into how vaccines may be used more efficaciously.Read moreRead less
Vaccine against leptospirosis. This project will utilise the information from the determination of the complete genome sequence of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjobovis at Monash University. Bioinformatics analysis will be used to allow a global approach to identify all putative vaccine antigens which will be cloned, expressed and purified and their protective capacity investigated.
Structural and functional alteration of red blood cells by Babesia parasites. Cattle Tick Fever caused by Babesia parasites causes significant economic loss to the Australian livestock industry. New approaches to prevent this disease are urgently needed but this requires greater knowledge of how the parasites cause disease in cattle. By identifying novel proteins involved in the disease process we will be able to make better vaccines and drugs and save the Australian livestock industry millions ....Structural and functional alteration of red blood cells by Babesia parasites. Cattle Tick Fever caused by Babesia parasites causes significant economic loss to the Australian livestock industry. New approaches to prevent this disease are urgently needed but this requires greater knowledge of how the parasites cause disease in cattle. By identifying novel proteins involved in the disease process we will be able to make better vaccines and drugs and save the Australian livestock industry millions of dollars each year.Read moreRead less
Investigation of the immunological properties of a novel adjuvant in sheep. The induction of strong immune responses without side effects is a highly desirable goal in vaccine R&D. The recently developed adjuvant DCtag utilises unique properties of dendritic cells to boost both cellular and humoral immune responses without tissue damage. This project will identify the mechanisms of immune induction of DCtag using unique properties of our sheep cannulation model. This will allow further optimisat ....Investigation of the immunological properties of a novel adjuvant in sheep. The induction of strong immune responses without side effects is a highly desirable goal in vaccine R&D. The recently developed adjuvant DCtag utilises unique properties of dendritic cells to boost both cellular and humoral immune responses without tissue damage. This project will identify the mechanisms of immune induction of DCtag using unique properties of our sheep cannulation model. This will allow further optimisation of DCtag adjuvanticity in sheep, which will then be applied to the delivery of a prototype peptide based vaccine against foot and mouth disease virus, a veterinary disease of global importance, hereby increasing Australia's leadership in biotechnology.Read moreRead less
Alphaherpesvirus recombination: safety implications for attenuated Herpesvirus vaccines. Under certain conditions some herpesviruses, including mild vaccine strains, can recombine to generate virulent viruses. Following findings that this occurred naturally between Australian poultry vaccines, with devastating results, this project will study natural herpesvirus recombination with the aim of allowing vaccines to be used more safely.
Imperfect vaccination drives herpesvirus evolution through recombination. Vaccines are used to help control disease caused by herpesviruses in animals, but some vaccination programs may drive the evolution and spread of herpesviruses with increased fitness (transmissibility, replication and virulence) through recombination. This project aims to study an important avian herpesvirus (infectious laryngotracheitis virus) in the natural host (poultry) to gain fundamental knowledge of how vaccination ....Imperfect vaccination drives herpesvirus evolution through recombination. Vaccines are used to help control disease caused by herpesviruses in animals, but some vaccination programs may drive the evolution and spread of herpesviruses with increased fitness (transmissibility, replication and virulence) through recombination. This project aims to study an important avian herpesvirus (infectious laryngotracheitis virus) in the natural host (poultry) to gain fundamental knowledge of how vaccination programs influence the emergence of diverse recombinant viruses, and identify which types of vaccination programs are best at preventing the emergence of fitter and more virulent viruses. The results are expected to inform vaccination practices to allow more effective control of these viruses in poultry and other animals.Read moreRead less
Functional Genomics and Host Cell Specificity of Herpesviruses. Herpesviruses cause severe diseases in many species, but research on their large DNA genomes has been difficult due to the need to use animal cell cultures for the generation of virus mutants. The cloning of complete herpesvirus genomes as Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) has revolutionized herpesvirus genomics, and it is now possible to examine herpesvirus gene functions in unprecedented detail using elegant new mutation tec ....Functional Genomics and Host Cell Specificity of Herpesviruses. Herpesviruses cause severe diseases in many species, but research on their large DNA genomes has been difficult due to the need to use animal cell cultures for the generation of virus mutants. The cloning of complete herpesvirus genomes as Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) has revolutionized herpesvirus genomics, and it is now possible to examine herpesvirus gene functions in unprecedented detail using elegant new mutation techniques. The project, based on two related equine herpesviruses, will identify new targets for antiviral drugs or vaccines. These herpesvirus BAC systems represent frontier science that greatly facilitates the study of links between genome and phenome.Read moreRead less