The MycoSynVac project AIMS at using cutting-edge synthetic biology methodologies to engineer Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a universal chassis for vaccination.
Annually, infections caused by Mycoplasma species in poultry, cows, and pigs result in multimillion Euro losses in the USA and Europe.There is no effective vaccination against many Mycoplasmas that infect pets, humans and farm animals (e.g. Mycoplasma bovis cow infection). Furthermore, most Mycoplasmas are difficult to grow in axenic culture, re-quiring a complex media that includes animal serum. Consequently, even in those cases for which effective vaccines are available (namely, M. hyopneumoniae in pigs and M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae in poultry), the production process of the vaccines is challenging. Here, we will capitalize on our extensive systems biology knowledge of M. pneumoniae and on cutting-edge synthetic biology methodologies to design a universal Mycoplasma chassis that can be deployed as single- or mul-ti-vaccine in a range of animal hosts.