Researchers at The Pirbright Institute are collaborating with the Roslin Institute to define host factors of susceptibility and resistance to African Swine Fever in domestic and wild pigs.
Researchers at The Pirbright Institute and the Roslin Institute are collaborating on a three-year project to identify genetic and cellular factors that determine susceptibility or resistance to African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) in domestic pigs and resistant African suids such as warthogs and red river hogs. ASFV is a deadly disease in pigs with no effective vaccine, leading to severe economic losses and reliance on culling and quarantine for control.
The project addresses a key knowledge gap by focusing on innate immune responses, particularly macrophages, the main target cells of ASFV. Roslin scientists have developed an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform to generate macrophages from pigs and red river hogs, enabling direct comparison of susceptible and resistant species.
Dr Chris Netherton, who leads the African Swine Fever Vaccinology group at Pirbright, said: “There is a key knowledge gap and we aim to characterize the host factors responsible for ASFV resistance and deepen our knowledge of ASFV host-pathogen interactions.
The collaboration also includes INRAE (France), providing bioinformatics and comparative genomics, and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (Spain), contributing expertise in virology, host–pathogen interactions, and single-cell RNA sequencing. Funded by Defra through the EU Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare (EUPAHW), the project aims to identify biomarkers and key host genes linked to ASFV resistance, ultimately improving understanding of ASFV host–pathogen interactions and informing future control strategies.
Credit: Pirbright Institute