I have been studying about how to produce vaccines and hormones of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin mainly by bio-pharming and transgenic plant technology. So, your answers will help me to continue further.
Plant cells have the capacity to express many genes. For example, express the 'native' genes for their daily activity through regulation. Once multiple transgenes are integrated into the host chromosomes, they become part of the genome and inherit into next generation. They can be expressed as long as their inserted loci are suitable for expression ('position effect') and the promoters can drive the transgene expression in the plants.
What do you mean of delivery of multiple antigens for repeated inoculation? Plant can express many trans genes because of the ATMT(Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation) inserted the exogenous genes into the plant genome. One gene a time, using different antibiotic screening, we can get plants with two or more trans genes. Driven by the proper promoters, each gene could be expressed.
Deepak, think of it this way, you insert send an ice cream factory that sends ice cream trucks all around a city so that different neighborhoods sell and receive ice cream. Depending on the scale of factory and truck numbers, ice cream outreach is higher. In your case, the factory is the delivery of the transgene and the ice cream trucks are expression/independent insertion events. If you have multiple Agro expressing different constructs, you might get more than one insertion events for each leading to the ability of the plant cell/tissue to produce multiple antigens. Thus more ice cream of different flavors. Now somethings to consider are:
1. Multiple Agro mediated transgene insertion require optimizing of the optimum age of the plant, flower opening stage and other factors.
2. Producing multiple antigens and vaccines in plants can be tricky, because you have to consider the complicated scenario of post translational modifications and sub cellular targeting. So basically your transgenic protein might get highly modified or secreted and recovering it will be a major issue.
Best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions
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