Virulence molecules found for poultry bu...( COLLEGE PARK Md.--The molecular keys t...)

Virulence molecules found for poultry bursal virus

COLLEGE PARK, Md.--The molecular keys to the serious poultry disease, known as Gumboro disease, have been discovered for the first time by scientists of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

At UMBI's Center for Agricultural Research (CAB), virologist Vikram N. Vakharia and colleagues report finding specific amino acid residues in the Gumboro-causing viruses that are responsible for its infection, virulence and disease development in poultry.

In the late 1980's, concern was heightened in the poultry industry of the Delmarva (Delaware/Maryland/Virginia) Peninsula when researchers found new strains of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) that causes serious disease. The region produces over 600 million broiler chickens annually. The IBDV strains found there caused wasting away of the bursa, which is the major immunological organ of chickens, but did not cause the hemorrhaging condition and high death rates of earlier, so-called classic, strains found in the United States in the 1960's. However in the 1990's, strains of IBDV emerged in Europe and Asia that killed up to 70 percent of some chicken flocks.

UMBI's Vakharia has recently created new, cost-effective recombinant vaccines to fight IBDV. However, the unpredictable nature of the Gumboro outbreaks, from mild to severe, is due to the ability of the virus to mutate and adapt in chicken tissues and continue to threaten the industry.

The discovery of the virus amino acids responsible for severe outbreaks will now help Vakaria to more rapidly respond to new strains of the virus with even more effective genetically engineered vaccines that can be administered to the chicken but will not cause the disease, while producing a strong protective immune response.

In the December 2001 issue of the Journal of Virology, the scientists report that three
'"/>

Contact: Steve Berberich
berberic@umbi.umd.edu
301-738-6295
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
7-Feb-2002

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Vions TAPET Organisms Demonstrate Reduced Virulence, Increased Safety While Retaining Ability To Specifically Target Tumors
2. Tiny molecules have big potential as cancer drugs, Stanford researcher believes
3. Synthesized molecules studied as weapon to stop cell division in cancer cells
4. Scientists reinvent DNA as template to produce organic molecules
5. Sweet success in targeting sugar molecules to cells in living animals
6. UC Riverside researcher takes snapshots of the movement of molecules in a billionth of a second
7. Scientists pinpoint molecules that generate synapses
8. Two molecules work together to aid transport of immune cells, UT Southwestern researchers find
9. Controlling biomolecules with magnetic tweezers
10. Water molecules clump more loosely than previously thought
11. Creating polymers that act like biomolecules

Post Your Comments: