Last month, scientists were able to make headway in producing anthrax vaccine in the choloroplasts of the tobacco plant. But apparently, tobacco can also serve as a production facility for a vaccine against another potential bioweapon: The Plague.

The Plague, a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is most notorious for causing the Black Death, an epidemic that killed millions during the Middle Ages. Nowadays, while the risk of contracting the diseases still remains especially in rat-infested areas, there are already antibiotics that can be used to treat the plague. However, with the possibility of its use as a bioweapon, efficient, safe and cheap methods of producing vaccine against it becomes a need.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University report to have successfully modified tobacco plants to make high levels of the plague antigens F1, V and a combination of the two, a so-called F1-V fusion antigen. When tested on guinea pigs, more than 50% of the vaccinated animals survived the challenge with all forms of the antigen, and guinea pigs vaccinated with V antigen alone had the highest survival rates.

The plant-based vaccine production uses a viral expression system that adapts the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) to produce a plant-based vaccine against plague. This technology is developed by Icon Genetics, a Germany-based biotech company focusing on plant-derived phramaceuticals.

Sources: ASU Insight, PNAS (open access to the published article available)