BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Recombinant Expression of Silk Sericin in Duckweed (Lemna japonica ) as a Sustainable Platform for Functional Biomaterial Production DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T070000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T071500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260915T154449Z UID:indico-contribution-445-2937@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Julia Eva Fortmueller (Weizmann Institute of Science )\nSilk sericin\, a glycoprotein produced by Bombyx mori\, naturally coat s and binds silk fibroin fibers during cocoon formation. Beyond this role\ , sericin's biocompatibility\, low immunogenicity\, and bioactive properti es\, including antioxidant and adhesive effects\, have made it attractive for a range of biomedical and biomaterial applications. However\, conventi onal degumming methods are harsh\, reduce protein purity\, and are constra ined by low yield and poor reproducibility between batches.\nTo overcome t hese limitations\, we explored duckweed (Lemna japonica)\, a fast-growing\ , readily transformable aquatic plant\, as an alternative production platf orm. We generated stable transgenic duckweed lines expressing silk sericin \, representing one of the first efforts to establish duckweed as a platfo rm for recombinant silk-derived protein expression\, and characterized exp ression levels and tissue-specific accumulation. Soluble sericin was recov ered from plant extracts via heat-treatment method.\nWe then evaluated the functional bioactivity of duckweed-derived sericin using an established m ammalian cell model\, benchmarking its performance against commercially av ailable sericin under standardized conditions. Quantitative and morphologi cal assessments confirmed that duckweed-derived sericin significantly enha nced the assessed functional endpoints\, outperforming commercial sericin. \nThis work establishes proof-of-concept for duckweed as a scalable\, plan t-based platform for producing functional recombinant sericin via a mild e xtraction route\, offering a sustainable\, cost-effective alternative to c onventional methods with broader implications for recombinant protein prod uction in plants and downstream biomaterial applications.\n\nhttps://indic o.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2937/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2937/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Towards a subunit oral vaccine to Newcastle disease in transgenic duckweeds DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T064500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T070000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260915T154449Z UID:indico-contribution-445-2936@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ron Vunsh (Weizmann Institute for Sciences)\nNewcast le virus disease (ND) in poultry is highly contagious. Weak strains cause loss in egg production\, virulent strains kill the birds1. NDV virions pos ses an envelop and contain a single molecule of linear\, negative sense RN A coding for at least six proteins. The important proteins for subunit vac cines are two glycoproteins: the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN)\, and th e fusion protein (F)\, which are used as antigens for immunization. Immuni zation is currently by injection\, nasal spray\, ocular or drinking water that contain the HN antigen. \n\nDuckweeds are small\, edible monocot plan ts that float on the surface of fresh water and need only light\, air and some common minerals for rapid growth. Plants of these genera are preferre d food as indicated by their name. Transgenic edible plants can deliver va ccines to different animals2.\n\nWe introduced HN and the F protein genes into a duckweed species to deliver these antigens for induction of protect ive immune response in chickens. We get high expression of both antigens i n the transgenic plants\, which grow normally with no apparent phenotypic change.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2936/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2936/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Duckweed as a platform for oral vaccines in sustainable fish aquac ulture DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T063000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20261002T064500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260915T154449Z UID:indico-contribution-445-2935@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Olena Kishchenko (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetic s and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Germany\; Institute of Cell Biology and Ge netic Engineering\, National Academy of Science of Ukraine)\nVaccination i s a cornerstone of modern health management. It`s particular important in intensive animal production systems\, such as aquaculture\, where high sto cking densities facilitate the rapid spread of pathogens. Oral vaccines of fer a stress-free\, scalable alternative to traditional fish injections. O ur study explores duckweed as platform for vaccine production and as vehic le for oral administration. Using a deconstructed potato virus X-based tra nsient expression system [1]\, recombinant proteins analogs of antigens of koi herpesvirus (KHV) and carp edema virus (CEV) were expressed in duckwe ed. Freeze-drying was shown to preserve the recombinant antigens in the du ckweed biomass\, enabling long-term storage at room temperature. Obtained freeze-drying duckweed biomass expressing KHV antigens was used for carp i mmunization via intraperitoneal injection and intubation [2]. Both methods of administration induced release of the specific KHV-neutralising antibo dies. Such data provide a strong support for the efficacy of duckweed as p roducer of oral vaccines. Transient expression of recombinant proteins in duckweed can facilitate and accelerate the development of oral vaccines fo r animals.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2935/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2935/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR