To control coccidiosis without using prophylactic medications, a DNA vaccine targeting the gametophyte antigen Gam56 from Eimeria maxima in chickens was constructed, and the immunogenicity and protective effects were evaluated. The ORF of Gam56 gene was cloned into an eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1(zeo)+. Expression of Gam56 protein in COS-7 cells transfected with recombinant plasmid pcDNA-Gam56 was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence assay. The DNA vaccine was injected intramuscularly to yellow feathered broilers of 1-week old at 3 dosages (25, 50, and 100 ?g/chick). Injection was repeated once 1 week later. One week after the second injection, birds were challenged orally with 5×104 sporulated oocysts of E. maxima, then weighed and killed at day 8 post challenge. Blood samples were collected and examined for specific peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation activity and serum antibody levels. Compared with control groups, the administration of pcDNA-Gam56 vaccine markedly increased the lymphocyte proliferation activity (P<0.05) at day 7 and 14 after the first immunization. The level of lymphocyte proliferation started to decrease on day 21 after the first immunization. A similar trend was seen in specific antibody levels. Among the 3 pcDNA-Gam56 immunized groups, the median dosage group displayed the highest lymphocyte proliferation and antibody levels (P<0.05). The median dosage group had the greatest relative body weight gain (89.7%), and the greatest oocyst shedding reduction (53.7%). These results indicate that median dosage of DNA vaccine had good immunogenicity and immune protection effects, and may be used in field applications for coccidiosis control.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Alternatives to antibiotics against coccidiosis for poultry production: the relationship between immunity and coccidiosis management – a comprehensive review Mohamed T. El-Saadony, Heba M. Salem, Marwa M. Attia, Nahed Yehia, Ahmed H. Abdelkader, Sara Abdel Mawgod, Nesma Mohamed Kamel, Samar Sami Alkafaas, Muslimah N. Alsulami, Ahmed Ezzat Ahmed, Dina Mostafa Mohammed, Ahmed M. Saad, Walid F.A. Mosa, Shaaban S. Annals of Animal Science.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Insight into poultry coccidiosis: a dual focus on anticoccidial drugs and herbal plants for pharmacological and prevention strategies Pooja Bharti, Syed Tanveer, Zahoor Ahmad Wani, Shabir Ahmad Rather, Zahoor Ahmad Parray Journal of Parasitic Diseases.2025; 49(3): 565. CrossRef
Development and immunological insights into recombinant/subunit vaccines against avian coccidiosis Shagufta Iqbal, Syed Tanveer, Idrees Mehraj Allaie, Yasmeena Jan, Shahana Tramboo, Nazima Maqbool Journal of Microbiological Methods.2025; 238: 107255. CrossRef
Innovative prevention and control of coccidiosis: targeting sporogony for new control agent development Dan Zhao, Jingxia Suo, Lin Liang, Ruiying Liang, Rongqiong Zhou, Jiabo Ding, Xianyong Liu, Xun Suo, Sixin Zhang, Xinming Tang Poultry Science.2024; 103(12): 104246. CrossRef
In vitro cultivation methods for coccidian parasite research Anna Sophia Feix, Teresa Cruz-Bustos, Bärbel Ruttkowski, Anja Joachim International Journal for Parasitology.2023; 53(9): 477. CrossRef
Recombinant GMA56 and ROP17 of Eimeria magna conferred protection against infection by homologous species Jie Xiao, Hao Chen, Ruoyu Zheng, Jiayan Pu, Xiaobin Gu, Yue Xie, Ran He, Jing Xu, Bo Jing, Xuerong Peng, Guangyou Yang Frontiers in Immunology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
What Do We Know about Surface Proteins of Chicken Parasites Eimeria? Jesica Daiana Britez, Anabel Elisa Rodriguez, Lucía Di Ciaccio, Virginia Marugán-Hernandez, Mariela Luján Tomazic Life.2023; 13(6): 1295. CrossRef
Cloning, expression and purification of Eimeria maxima gametocyte antigen-EmGam56 for control of poultry coccidiosis Vijayashanthi Ramalingam, Raman Muthusamy, Kasthuri Bohra, Azhahianambi Palavesam, Dhinakarraj Gopal Journal of Parasitic Diseases.2023; 47(4): 773. CrossRef
Vaccination Against Poultry Parasites Ruediger Hauck, Kenneth S. Macklin Avian Diseases.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Coccidiosis: Recent Progress in Host Immunity and Alternatives to Antibiotic Strategies Youngsub Lee, Mingmin Lu, Hyun S. Lillehoj Vaccines.2022; 10(2): 215. CrossRef
A multiepitope vaccine encoding four Eimeria epitopes with PLGA nanospheres: a novel vaccine candidate against coccidiosis in laying chickens ZhengQing Yu, SiYing Chen, JianMei Huang, WenXi Ding, YuFeng Chen, JunZhi Su, RuoFeng Yan, LiXin Xu, XiaoKai Song, XiangRui Li Veterinary Research.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Vaccines against chicken coccidiosis with particular reference to previous decade: progress, challenges, and opportunities Tean Zaheer, Rao Zahid Abbas, Muhammad Imran, Asghar Abbas, Ali Butt, Sarfraz Aslam, Jameel Ahmad Parasitology Research.2022; 121(10): 2749. CrossRef
Research progress of the avian coccidiosis vaccine Haiming Cai, Nanshan Qi, Juan Li, Minna Lv, Xuhui Lin, Junjing Hu, Jianfei Zhang, Shenquan Liao, Mingfei Sun Veterinary Vaccine.2022; 1(1): 100002. CrossRef
Protection of hatchlings against coccidiosis by maternal antibodies to four recombinant proteins of Eimeria tenella, Eimeria acervulina and Eimeria maxima Xu Yang, Xingju Song, Jing Liu, Qingzhong Chen, Tongwei An, Qun Liu Veterinary Parasitology.2022; 312: 109813. CrossRef
Veteriner protozoolojide aşı uygulamalarına güncel yaklaşım Ahmet GÖKSU, Hatice ÇİÇEK Journal of Advances in VetBio Science and Techniques.2021; 6(2): 179. CrossRef
Brief History and Advancements of Vaccination Against Avian Coccidiosis: A Review
Sexual Development in Non-Human Parasitic Apicomplexa: Just Biology or Targets for Control? Teresa Cruz-Bustos, Anna Sophia Feix, Bärbel Ruttkowski, Anja Joachim Animals.2021; 11(10): 2891. CrossRef
Characterization of Cystoisospora suis sexual stages in vitro Anna Sophia Feix, Teresa Cruz-Bustos, Bärbel Ruttkowski, Anja Joachim Parasites & Vectors.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
Immunoprophylactic evaluation of recombinant gametocyte 22 antigen of Eimeria tenella in broiler chickens Shafiya Imtiaz Rafiqi, Rajat Garg, Hira Ram, K. K. Reena, Mayurkumar Asari, Priyanka Kumari, V. R. Kundave, Mithilesh Singh, P. S. Banerjee Parasitology Research.2019; 118(3): 945. CrossRef
A review of Eimeria antigen identification for the development of novel anticoccidial vaccines J. Venkatas, M. A. Adeleke Parasitology Research.2019; 118(6): 1701. CrossRef
Optimization of Immunization Procedure for Eimeria tenella DNA Vaccine pVAX1-pEtK2-IL-2 and Its Stability Bucai Zhang, Cheng Yuan, Xiaokai Song, Lixin Xu, Ruofeng Yan, Muhammad Ali A. Shah, Changming Guo, Shanyuan Zhu, Xiangrui Li Acta Parasitologica.2019; 64(4): 745. CrossRef
Recent advances in delivery of veterinary DNA vaccines against avian pathogens Seyed Davoud Jazayeri, Chit Laa Poh Veterinary Research.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Passive immunization with Eimeria tenella gametocyte antigen 56 (EtGAM56) specific antibodies and active immunization trial with the epitope containing peptide Stefanie Wiedmer, Alaa Aldin Alnassan, Beate Volke, Ahmed Thabet, Arwid Daugschies, Matthias Lendner, Michael Kurth Veterinary Parasitology.2017; 247: 100. CrossRef
Recombinant anticoccidial vaccines - a cup half full? Damer P. Blake, Iván Pastor-Fernández, Matthew J. Nolan, Fiona M. Tomley Infection, Genetics and Evolution.2017; 55: 358. CrossRef
DNA vaccination of poultry: The current status in 2015 Marine Meunier, Marianne Chemaly, Daniel Dory Vaccine.2016; 34(2): 202. CrossRef
Development of immunization trials against Eimeria spp. Tarek A. Ahmad, Bassant A. El-Sayed, Laila H. El-Sayed Trials in Vaccinology.2016; 5: 38. CrossRef
Construction of Eimeria tenella multi-epitope DNA vaccines and their protective efficacies against experimental infection Xiaokai Song, Lixin Xu, Ruofeng Yan, Xinmei Huang, Xiangrui Li Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology.2015; 166(3-4): 79. CrossRef
Immunization with recombinant 3-1E protein in AbISCO®-300 adjuvant induced protective immunity against Eimeria acervulina infection in chickens Ying Zhang, Lixia Wang, Wenke Ruan, Jianjun Zhang, Peng Yao, Sai Zhou, Jian An Experimental Parasitology.2014; 141: 75. CrossRef
Securing poultry production from the ever-present Eimeria challenge Damer P. Blake, Fiona M. Tomley Trends in Parasitology.2014; 30(1): 12. CrossRef
Strategies for anti-coccidial prophylaxis DAVID M. WITCOMBE, NICHOLAS C. SMITH Parasitology.2014; 141(11): 1379. CrossRef
First
Prev
