A NOVEL BIOFILM-TARGETING VACCINE TO CONTROL MYCOPLASMA OVIPNEUMONIAE INFECTION IN SHEEP.

The long-term goal of our research is to develop novel strategies to eliminate Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovi) infections from domestic sheep herds. M. ovi is a facultative pathogen that infects the respiratory tract of sheep and that is an important co-factor in ovine atypical pneumonia. With this project, we seek to develop and test a novel M. ovi vaccine that targets biofilms in the respiratory tract to clear or prevent M. ovi infection.We will test the hypothesis that an M. ovi vaccine that incorporates biofilm antigens and triggers anti-biofilm responses may protect sheep from M. ovi infection with two experimental objectives:Objective 1: Design and produce a vaccine to M. ovi that incorporates biofilm components and that induces mucosal antibody responses.Objective 2: Assess the ability of the biofilm-based M. ovi vaccine to protect sheep from M. ovi infection and improve productivity.