Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2016, 8th- 10th June, Milan, Italy 

HAF © 2013 

Vol. III, No. 1s  ISSN: 2283-3927 

   

 

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Keywords 

Testudinid herpesvirus, TeHV3, 

Reptile Immunology, Testudo.  

 

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR 

Marco Tecilla 

marco.tecilla@unimi.it 

 

JOURNAL HOME PAGE 

riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf 

Characterization of the immune response 

against Testudinid herpesvirus 3. 

M. Tecillaa*, P. Roccabiancaa, P. Pilob,  F. Origgic 

a Department of Veterinary Science and Public Health (DIVET), School of 
Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan, 20010, Milan, Italy. 

b Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 
Laenggassstrasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland. 

c Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health (FIWI), Vetsuisse Faculty, University of 
Bern, Laenggassstrasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland. 

 

 
Abstract 

Numerous infectious diseases have been documented in reptiles, however minimal information is 

available concerning their immunological response. One of the most diffuse and lethal reptile pathogen 

is Testudinid herpesvirus 3 (TeHV3), a Alphaherpesvirinae. All species of tortoises (Testudinide) are 

considered susceptible to TeHV3, however the virus is over represented in the genus Testudo, which 

includes, among others, T. graeca, T. hermanni, T. marginata, and T. horsfieldii, that are popular pets in 

Europe. Incidence of TeHV3-associated disease is highest right after hibernation (Origgi, 2012). 

The aim of this work is to partially characterize the immunological response of T. graeca against TeHV3. 

A bacteriophage library composed of about 5.000 clones containing genomic DNA fragments of TeHV3 

was produced. Bacteriophages were amplified in a specific strain of E. coli and were screened with 

TeHV3-seropositive sera from T. graeca. Phagemids were excised from the positive bacteriophages, 

sequenced, and compare with the TeHV3 genome to identify the encoding genes. Six different 

structural and non-structural proteins have identified as immune relevant. Vero cells where transfected 

with phagemids of the positive clones, to confirm previous results. TeHV3’s proteins expression was 

assessed by F.A.C.S using T. graeca seropositive sera. Of all the six selected clones, only that expressing 

the partial sequence of the glycoprotein B (gB) showed a positive signal in the F.A.C.S. analysis. This 

result is consistent with the well-known immunogenicity of gB of other herpesviruses including those 

infecting humans and with the highly conserved role that gB plays in host-pathogen interaction across 

species and evolution (Beals et al., 2016).  
 

References 

Beals, C.R., Railkar, R.A., Schaeffer, A.K., Levin, Y., Kochba, E., Meyer, B.K., Evans, R.K., Sheldon, E.A., Lasseter, K., Lang, N., et 

al. (2016). Immune response and reactogenicity of intradermal administration versus subcutaneous administration of 

varicella-zoster virus vaccine: an exploratory, randomised, partly blinded trial. Lancet Infect. Dis. 

Origgi, F.C. (2012). Testudinid Herpesviruses: A Review. J. Herpetol. Med. Surg. 22, 42–54 

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en