CRISPR/Cas9 editing of genotype IX African swine fever virus

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a contagious and fatal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the global swine industry. Due to the lack of effective treatment and vaccines against African swine fever, there is an urgent need to leverage cutting-edge technologies and cost-effective approaches for generating and purifying recombinant virus to fast-track the development of live-attenuated ASFV vaccines. Here, we use the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to produce recombinant ASFVs. We developed a recombinant virus lacking the non-essential gene A238L (5EL) in the highly virulent genotype IX ASFV (Kenya 1033) genome.

非洲猪瘟病毒（African swine fever virus, ASFV）是引发家猪传染性致死性疾病的病原体，该疾病对全球养猪业造成了显著的经济损失。由于目前尚无针对非洲猪瘟的有效治疗手段与疫苗，亟需依托前沿技术与高性价比方案制备并纯化重组病毒，以加速减毒活ASFV疫苗的研发进程。本研究采用CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑系统制备重组非洲猪瘟病毒，成功构建了一株在高毒力IX基因型ASFV（肯尼亚1033株）基因组中缺失非必需基因A238L（5EL）的重组病毒。