Chromosome-Scale Genome Assembly of the Sheep-Biting Louse Using Nanopore Sequencing Data and Pore-C Analysis.

, commonly known as the sheep-biting louse, is an ectoparasite that adversely affects the sheep industry. Sheep louse infestation lowers the quality of products, including wool and leather, causing a loss of approximately AUD 123M per annum in Australia alone. The lack of a high-quality genome assembly for the sheep-biting louse, as well as any closely related livestock lice, has hindered the development of louse research and management control tools.

The use of cell and larval assays to identify target genes for RNA interference-meditated control of the Australian sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina).

Background: Flystrike, primarily caused by Lucilia cuprina, is a major health and welfare issue for sheep wool industries. Current chemical-based controls can have limited effectiveness due to the emergence of resistance in the parasite. RNA interference (RNAi), which uses double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a trigger molecule, has been successfully investigated for the development of innovative pest control strategies.

Characterization of the Biodistribution of a Silica Vesicle Nanovaccine Carrying a Protective Antigen With Live Animal Imaging.

Development of veterinary subunit vaccines comes with a spectrum of challenges, such as the choice of adjuvant, antigen delivery vehicle, and optimization of dosing strategy. Over the years, our laboratory has largely focused on investigating silica vesicles (SVs) for developing effective veterinary vaccines for multiple targets. (cattle tick) are known to have a high impact on cattle health and the livestock industry in the tropical and subtropical regions.

Synergistic Effect of Two Nanotechnologies Enhances the Protective Capacity of the Sporozoite p67C Antigen in Cattle.

East Coast fever (ECF), caused by , is the most important tick-borne disease of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa. Practical disadvantages associated with the currently used live-parasite vaccine could be overcome by subunit vaccines. An 80-aa polypeptide derived from the C-terminal portion of p67, a sporozoite surface Ag and target of neutralizing Abs, was the focus of the efforts on subunit vaccines against ECF and subjected to several vaccine trials with very promising results.

Nanoparticle-Based Delivery of Anaplasma marginale Membrane Proteins; VirB9-1 and VirB10 Produced in the Pichia pastoris Expression System.

Bovine anaplasmosis or cattle-tick fever is a tick-borne haemolytic disease caused by the rickettsial haemoparasite in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. While difficult to express, the proteins VirB9-1 and VirB10 are immunogenic components of the outer membrane type IV secretion system that have been identified as candidate antigens for vaccines targeting of . Soluble VirB9-1 and VirB10 were successfully expressed using .

Silica Vesicle Nanovaccine Formulations Stimulate Long-Term Immune Responses to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 Protein.

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is one of the most serious pathogen, which causes tremendous economic loss to the cattle industry worldwide, meriting the development of improved subunit vaccines. Structural glycoprotein E2 is reported to be a major immunogenic determinant of BVDV virion. We have developed a novel hollow silica vesicles (SV) based platform to administer BVDV-1 Escherichia coli-expressed optimised E2 (oE2) antigen as a nanovaccine formulation.

Immunisation of Sheep with Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus, E2 Protein Using a Freeze-Dried Hollow Silica Mesoporous Nanoparticle Formulation.

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus 1 (BVDV-1) is arguably the most important viral disease of cattle. It is associated with reproductive, respiratory and chronic diseases in cattle across the world. In this study we have investigated the capacity of the major immunological determinant of BVDV-1, the E2 protein combined with hollow type mesoporous silica nanoparticles with surface amino functionalisation (HMSA), to stimulate immune responses in sheep.

Silica vesicles as nanocarriers and adjuvants for generating both antibody and T-cell mediated immune resposes to Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 protein.

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is widely distributed in cattle industries and causes significant economic losses worldwide annually. A limiting factor in the development of subunit vaccines for BVDV is the need to elicit both antibody and T-cell-mediated immunity as well as addressing the toxicity of adjuvants. In this study, we have prepared novel silica vesicles (SV) as the new generation antigen carriers and adjuvants.

Freeze-drying of ovalbumin loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle vaccine formulation increases antigen stability under ambient conditions.

Amino functionalised mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AM-41) have been identified as a promising vaccine delivery material. The capacity of AM-41 to stabilise vaccine components at ambient temperature (23-27°C) was determined by adsorbing the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) to AM-41 particles (OVA-41). The OVA-41 was successfully freeze-dried using the excipients 5% trehalose and 1% PEG8000.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as antigen carriers and adjuvants for vaccine delivery.

Vaccines have been at the forefront of improving human health for over two centuries. The challenges faced in developing effective vaccines flow from complexities associated with the immune system and requirement of an efficient and safe adjuvant to induce a strong adaptive immune response. Development of an efficient vaccine formulation requires careful selection of a potent antigen, efficient adjuvant and route of delivery.