Growth kinetics and immune response of chimeric foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype ‘O’ produced through replication competent mini genome of serotype Asia 1, 63/72, in BHK cell lines

Regular vaccinations with potent vaccine, in endemic countries and vaccination to live in non-endemic countries are the methods available to control foot-and-mouth disease. Selection of candidate vaccine strain is not only cumbersome but the candidate should grow well for high potency vaccine preparation. Alternative strategy is to generate an infectious cDNA of a cell culture-adapted virus and use the replicon for development of tailor-made vaccines. We produced a chimeric ‘O’ virus in the backbone of Asia 1 and studied its characteristics. The chimeric virus showed high infectivity titre (>1010) in BHK 21 cell lines, revealed small plaque morphology and there was no cross reactivity with antiserum against Asia 1. The virus multiplies rapidly and reaches peak at 12 h post infection. The vaccine prepared with this virus elicited high antibody titres.

► Here we report the production of chimeric FMDV ‘O’ using Asia 1 replicon. ► The chimeric virus replicated efficiently in BHK 21 cells to produce high titred virus ► The chimeric virus vaccine was found to be potent in vaccinated bovine calves. ► The backbone may be used for developing vaccines with other strains of interest.