Cloning and Expression of B. mellitensis bp26 Gene in Lactococcus lactis as a Food Grade Vaccine

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is still an important health problem in under developing countries and researches for finding efficient vaccine are going on. Brucella melitensis (B. mellitensis) bp26 gene is a good candidate for brucellosis vaccine and investigations showed that Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) with several positive characteristic are attractive for protein expression as a live delivery vectors. These fast growing bacteria need no aeration, are easy to handle, have no exotoxin, endotoxin and protease, so the cost of culturing is inexpensive. METHODS: B. mellitensis bp26 gene was cloned in food grade pNZ 8149 vector and expressed in L. lactis NZ 3900. RESULTS: Results showed that we can produce a food-grade recombinant L. lactis producing the B. melitensis BP26 protein. CONCLUSION: In this study, for Future evaluation about ability of L. lactis as a live delivery vector, a food-grade recombinant L. lactis producing the B. melitensis BP26 protein was produced.