In silico prediction of vaccine antigens against Avibacterium paragallinarum using a reverse vaccinology approach

MARÍA ESPERANZA FELICI; YOSEF D.HUBERMAN; BELKYS A. MALETTO; RODRIGO QUIROGA

Conferencia; 2nd Women in Bioinformatics & Data Science LA Conference; 2021

Avibacterium paragallinarum is the causative agent of infectious coryza, an acute disease that affects the upper respiratory system of chickens. This bacteria is widely distributed in poultry production systems all over the world, causing significant economic losses due to diminished growth performance and egg production. Presently, vaccination is considered the main form of prevention. However, currently available commercial vaccines, based on inactivated international reference strains, show only partial effectiveness and insufficient protection against local strains. In hopes of developing a new vaccine that overcomes this hurdle, antigens with broad protection potential were identified in silico from the three Page (1962) serogroups (A, B and C) of Av. paragallinarum. In this work, comparative and subtractive genomics were used in conjunction with sequence analysis to select the proteins deemed the most conserved, essential, antigenic, accessible and non-homologous to the host. Among the predicted antigens, type IV pilus biogenesis/stability protein PilW, peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein Pal, outer membrane protein assembly factor BamE, OmpH family outer membrane protein and rod shape-determining protein MreC were identified as potential candidates qualifying all the set criteria. Although only a few strains were analyzed, and in vitro and in vivo testings are still needed to validate the protective effect of the newly identified antigens, this study provides a basis for the development of a novel subunit vaccine against Av. paragallinarum.