Dr D Stone, Dr T Kudoh, Dr M van der Giezen
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
About the award:
The Strategic Alliance that exists between The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the University of Exeter is pleased to announce the intention to fund 2 new PhD projects for a September 2017 start. This project is one of six projects that are in competition for funding from the University of Exeter and Cefas. Up to two studentships will be awarded to the best applicants. The new projects will further strengthen the alliance and will contribute towards a developing collective expertise in Aquatic Food Security and Safety. Within the current Cefas Science Strategy, ‘Meeting Food Security and Safety Targets’ is one of 5 key evidence challenges. Cefas is focussing its broad aquatic expertise on the growth area of aquatic food production and safety at both national and international levels. As part of this strategy, the strengthening of partner working between government, academia and industry is a major goal.
For eligible students the studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £14,296 (2016/17 rate) for 3.5 years, and a research training support grant.
Project Description:
The continuously growing world population puts enormous pressure on the provision of food, and traditional farming methods are struggling to provide the growing demand for animal protein. Finfish fisheries currently provide, especially in developing nations, a growing role in food security and aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry. However, growth is massively restricted by disease and international trade seems to become an important ‘infection route’ by transporting seemingly healthy broodstock, post-larvae, fry and fingerlings around the globe. Viral diseases account for 25% of infectious disease and are, unlike the more prevalent bacterial diseases, more difficult to control due to a multitude of factors.
The purpose of this proposal is to 1) develop and evaluate a picornavirus expression vector for use as a vaccine in fish, and 2) develop and evaluate an in vivo virus biosensor system using transgenic zebrafish to assist in the rapid evaluation of vaccine efficacy.
Using virus to deliver vaccines
Virus vaccine vectors have been developed for terrestrial animals, but never for fish (Draper and Heeney, 2010). Picornaviruses such as the foot and mouth virus have been investigated as vaccine vectors (Li et al., 2012). Because few, if any, fish picornaviruses have been associated with significant disease or mortality events, they are ideal candidates for vaccine vectors in the aquatic environment. As the Bluegill picornavirus genome (Barbknecht et al 2014) is very similar to the foot and mouth virus, we will exploit this genome to deliver glycoprotein from spring viraemia of carp virus (SVCV) and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) to fish. SVCV and VHSV are OIE listed pathogens of many farmed fish including trout and carp. Protein delivered in this manner will elicit the protective immune response to SVCV or VHSV, respectively. Vaccination will be by immersion which is cheaper and simpler than vaccination via injection as currently is common practice in aquaculture. Furthermore, antigens will be expressed in skin and gills where antibody-secreting cells will be activated and thereby increase the likelihood that the real pathogen will be eliminated when it enters the animal via the same route.
A viral biomonitoring system:
It is important to have a system to assess the efficacy of a vaccine against new and emerging virus genotypes. We therefore aim to develop a biomonitoring system of viral infection using transgenic zebrafish. Virus replication and pathogenicity is routinely studied using virus mini replicons and a reporter gene. In transfected fish, it was shown that RNA mini replicons can be rescued in a virus species specific manner (Biacchesi et al 2000; Betts and Stone, 2001). We aim to generate a series of transgenic zebrafish constitutively expressing the virus mini replicon for a range of fish viruses including SVCV and VHSV that will respond to infection by expression of GFP. Once developed, the transgenic fish larvae and juvenile fish can be used for high throughput imaging of GFP fluorescence to rapidly assess the efficacy of potential candidate vaccines produced during this project. They can also be used to monitor the long term persistence of viruses in vaccinated fish.
For more information and for details on how to apply please visit http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=2518
Funding Notes
This award provides annual funding to cover UK/EU tuition fees and a tax-free stipend. For students who pay UK/EU tuition fees the award will cover the tuition fees in full, plus at least £14,296 per year tax-free stipend. Students who pay international tuition fees are eligible to apply, but should note that the award will only provide payment for part of the international tuition fee and no stipend.
Studentships will be awarded on the basis of merit and are awarded for 3.5 years of full-time study to commence in September 2017.