Immunogenicity of recombinant attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium vaccine strains carrying a gene that encodes Eimeria tenella antigen SO7

Recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines against avian coccidiosis were developed to deliver Eimeria species antigens to the lymphoid tissues of chickens via the type 3 secretion system (T3SS) and the type 2 secretion system (T2SS) of Salmonella. For antigen delivery via the T3SS, the Eimeria tenella gene encoding sporozoite antigen SO7 was cloned downstream of the translocation domain of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium sopE gene in the parental pYA3868 and pYA3870 vectors to generate pYA4156 and pYA4157. Newly constructed T3SS vectors were introduced into host strain χ8879 (ΔphoP233 ΔsptP1033::xylE ΔasdA16), an attenuated derivative of the highly virulent UK-1 strain. The SopE-SO7 fusion protein was secreted by the T3SS of Salmonella. The vector pYA4184 was constructed for delivery of the SO7 antigen via the T2SS. The SO7 protein was toxic to Salmonella when larger amounts were synthesized; thus, the synthesis of this protein was placed under the control of the lacI repressor gene, whose expression in turn was dependent on the amount of available arabinose in the medium. The pYA4184 vector was introduced into host strain χ9242 (ΔphoP233 ΔasdA16 ΔaraBAD23 ΔrelA198::araC P_BAD lacI TT [TT is the T4ipIII transcription terminator]). In addition to SO7, for immunization and challenge studies we used the EAMZ250 antigen of Eimeria acervulina, which was previously shown to confer partial protection against E. acervulina challenge when it was delivered via the T3SS. Immunization of chickens with a combination of the SO7 and EAMZ250 antigens delivered via the T3SS induced superior protection against challenge by E. acervulina. In contrast, chickens immunized with SO7 that was delivered via the T2SS of Salmonella were better protected from challenge by E. tenella.