Expression of the protective antigen for PEDV in transgenic duckweed, Lemna minor

Ko, Suk-Min; Sun, Hyeon-Jin; Oh, Myung Jin; Song, In-Ja; Kim, Min-Jae; Sin, Hyun-Sook; Goh, Chang-Hyo; Kim, Yong-Woo; Lim, Pyung-Ok; Lee, Hyo-Yeon; Kim, Suk Weon

Duckweeds are small, floating aquatic plants with a number of useful characteristics, including edibility, fast-growing, and a clonal proliferation. Duckweed is also fed to animals as a diet complement because of its high nutritional value. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a major causative agent of fatal diarrhea in piglets and is a serious problem in the hog-raising industry. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of producing a protective antigen for the PEDV spike protein 1 using duckweed, Lemna minor. Stably transformed Lemna were obtained by co-cultivation with A. tumefaciens EHA105 harboring the PEDV spike protein gene. Transgene integration and expression of the PEDV spike protein 1 gene were confirmed by genomic PCR and RT-PCR and western blot analysis of transgenic Lemna, respectively. This is the first report of the expression of a vaccine antigen against an animal infectious disease in duckweed.