Abstract:
In crustaceans and insects, phenoloxidase (PO) is recognized as a key role in defense mechanisms. It oxidizes phenols to quinones, which subsequently are then polymerized to melanin. This process limits the growth and development of the invading microorganisms. PO activity is now commonly used as an indicator for assessing the immune condition. The chemical assays for PO have been developed in various species. However, in the case of shrimp, a number of problems such as instability of sample, activity loss and self-inactivation of PO have caused unreliable results. The aim of this study is to develop the appropriate technique for detecting the PO activity of P. monodon. Three PO detection techniques were conducted. These included the chemical assay, immunological assay and molecular-based method. For chemical assay, the classical L-Dihydroxyphenyl-Alanine (L-DOPA) method was modified. The result showed that CAC buffer, pH 7-8, was the most appropriate reaction buffer. By adding trypsin into the sample, the activity of PO increased 6 times. The application of 3-Methyl-2-Benzothiazolinone Hydrazone (MBTH) to the reaction increased the sensitivity of the assay by 3.5 times. In immuno-based technique, polyclonal antibody against PO was produced. Attempts for separating PO from the HLS using native gel electrophoresis and affinity chromatography were failed to deliver sufficient amount of PO for immunization. Therefore, in vitro expression of prophenoloxidase (PPO) gene was conducted using the pET17b vector and Escherichia coli stain BL21 (DE3) plysS system. The purified recombinant PPO was immunized into the rabbit. Western blot analysis revealed that the produced antibody could recognize the PO from P. monodon. For molecular-based method, semi-quantitative RT-PCR was developed for detecting the transcription level of PPO gene. In addition to the development of detection methods, preliminary test for using these three methods in P. monodon was conducted. The PO from normal shrimps and shrimps infected with Vibrio harveyi were determined. The results showed the corresponding results from the three methods