No abstract

Background: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae, Mhp) are two of the most common pathogens involved in the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) which results in significant worldwide economic losses. Vaccination is reported to be the most effective approach to prevent the disease. Since PRRSV and Mhp co-infections are very common, an efficient dual vaccine against PRRSV and Mhp co-infections is required for the global swine industry. Compare with the traditional vaccine, the multi-epitope vaccines have several advantages, such as comparatively easy production and construction, chemical stability, and lack of infectious potential.Results: In this study, to develop a safe and effective vaccine, B cell epitopes and T cell epitopes of PRRSV-GP5, PRRSV-M, Mhp-P46 and Mhp-P65 protein had been screened to construct a recombinant epitope protein rEP-PM which has good hydrophilicity, strong antigenicity and high surface accessibility, and each epitope is independent and complete. After immunization in mice, rEP-PM could induce the production of high levels of antibodies and effective cellular immune response.Conclusions: Our results showed that the rEP-PM protein could be potential candidate to develop into a safe and effective multi-epitope peptide combined vaccine used in the control of PRRSV and Mhp infection.