Expression of Helicobacter pylori urease in plants to use as an edible vaccine

Helicobacter pylori is the etiologic agent of human gastritis and peptic ulceration and produces urease as the major protein component on its surface. H. pylori urease is known to serve as a potent immunogen as well as major virulence factor. In order to express the recombinant urease in tobacco plants, a DNA fragment containing the minimal H. pylori urease gene cluster was subcloned into a plant expression vector. The recombinant vector was transformed to tobacco plants. The integration of the recombinant plasmids into tobacco chromosomal genome was verified by genomic PCR. Expression to mRNA was confirmed by Northern blot analysis, and expression to recombinant urease protein was observed by Western blot analysis. These results showed that the recombinant urease can be produced in tobacco plants and will be tested for immune response to use as an edible vaccine.