Phylogenetic analysis of prospective M. bovis antigens with the aim of developing candidate vaccines for bovine tuberculosis.

Background: Bovine Tuberculosis is a respiratory disease caused by the pathogen Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) that infects cattle. Though rare, this disease can also affect humans, as well as domestic and wild animals, making it a serious concern. Therefore, searching for alternative and new vaccines with high efficiency and safety is the main goal in bovine tuberculosis prophylaxis. New vaccines, known as vector vaccines, have the potential to become safe and effective alternatives to the traditional BCG vaccine. In this study, two major immunodominant proteins of M. bovis Esat-6 and TB10.4 were utilized to create a vector vaccine for bovine tuberculosis.

Methods: The Esat-6 and TB10.4 genes were amplified by PCR. The amplified and purified PCR products were sequenced by the Sanger method. Assembly and multiple alignments of amplicon nucleotides were carried out in the MEGA 11 software.

Result: Two genes of the local strain 0078-M. bovis-8/RIBSP were sequenced. The nucleotide sequences were deposited in the GenBank database. Comparative analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the ESAT-6 and TB10.4 genes established 100% identity of the compared strains of Mycobacterium.

Conclusion: Through the use of phylogenetic analysis, it has been confirmed that the amplified genes are related to the mycobacteria genus. This discovery allows the development of a vector vaccine against bovine tuberculosis utilising these genes.