Agriculture

  2010 FEB 22 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the causative agent of classical swine fever (CSF), which causes significant economic losses to the pig industry worldwide. The E2 glycoprotein of CSFV is the main target for neutralizing antibodies," scientists in Harbin, People's Republic of China report.

  "This study was aimed to develop a recombinant human adenovirus type 5 expressing the CSFV E2 gene (rAdV-E2) and evaluate its efficacy in rabbits and pigs. The results showed that the rabbits and the pigs immunized with the rAdV-E2 developed high-level CSFV-specific neutralizing antibodies. The rAdV-E2-immunized rabbits were protected from fever induced by infection with C-strain, which is pathogenic to the rabbit, and the rAdV-E2-immunized pigs were protected from lethal challenge with highly virulent Shimen strain," wrote Y. Sun and colleagues, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science ...read more

  2010 FEB 22 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to a study from Beijing, People's Republic of China, "To explore the potential of a novel animal interferon formulation for controlled release, the yak interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and the purified recombinant IFN-alpha was encapsulated into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) by double emulsion solvent evaporation (w/o/w) method. The particle size and zeta potential of IFN-alpha-loaded SLN were 124.2 +/- 10.2 nm and -11.2 +/- 0.6 mV. ...read more

  2010 FEB 15 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "An improved indirect immunoperoxidase assay (IPA) was developed to detect antigens of Duck swollen head hemorrhagic disease virus (DSHDV) in paraformaldehyde-Fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). This technique used an indirect streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase labeling system with polyclonal antiserum developed against purified DSHDV antigens," scientists in Yaan, People's Republic of China report ...read more