Production of vaccines for treatment of infectious diseases by transgenic plants

Since the first pathogen antigen was expressed in transgenic plants with the aim of producing edible vaccine in early 1990s, transgenic plants have become a well-established expression system for production of alternative vaccines against various human and animal infectious diseases. The main focus of plant expression systems in the last five years has been on improving expression of well-studied antigens such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRSV), bovine viral diarrhea disease virus (BVDV), footh and mouth disease virus (FMDV), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), rabies G protein, rotavirus, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Norwalk virus capsid protein (NVCP), avian influenza virus H5N1, Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin subunit B (LT-B), cholera toxin B (CT-B), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), artherosclerosis, ebola and anthrax. Significant increases in expression have been obtained using improved expression vectors, different plant species and transformation methods.