Construction of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) DNA vaccine and its protective efficiency on the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) challenged with Vibrio harveyi

The main aims of this study were to construct glutathione peroxidase (GPx) DNA vaccine of Vibrio harveyi ZJ0603 and to investigate its immune protective efficiency as a vaccine candidate on the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) treated with V. harveyi. Base on the cloning of ZJ0603 GPx gene, a DNA vaccine, named as pcDNA-GPx, was constructed by inserting GPx gene into pcDNA3.1 (+) plasmid. Orange-spotted groupers were immunized with the pcDNA-GPx plasmid by injection intramuscularly. The relative percent of survival (RPS) of fish vaccinated with the DNA vaccine against pathogenic V. harveyi infection was 77.5%. The expression of DNA vaccine was analyzed in the tissues of orange-spotted grouper by PCR and RT-PCR. The results indicated that pcDNA-GPx distributed and expressed in the head kidney, liver, spleen, gill and injected muscle at 7 and 28 days after vaccination. Significant specific antibody responses were also detected in the vaccinated orange-spotted groupers by indirect ELISA method. In a conclusion, DNA vaccine pcDNA-GPx showed an effective immune protection to the orange-spotted grouper treated with V. harveyi. The GPx can be used as a candidate DNA vaccine for the control of vibriosis.