In vitro screen of bioinformatically selected Bacillus anthracis vaccine candidates by coupled transcription, translation, and immunoprecipitation analysis.

The availability of the Bacillus anthracis genome sequence allowed for in silico selection of a few hundred open reading frames (ORFs) as putative vaccine candidates. To screen such a vast number of candidate ORFs, without resorting to laborious cloning and protein purification procedures, methods were developed for generation of PCR elements, compatible with in vitro transcription-translation and immunoprecipitation, as well as with their evaluation as DNA vaccines. Protocols will be provided for application of these methods to analyze the anti-B. anthracis antibody repertoire of hyperimmune sera or sera from convalescent and from DNA-vaccinated animals.