Wansika Tongchuea. Detection of white spot and yellow-head viruses in Penaeus monodon by amplification of conserved sequences. Master's Degree(Biochemistry). Mahidol University. Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center. : Mahidol University, 1996.
Detection of white spot and yellow-head viruses in Penaeus monodon by amplification of conserved sequences
Abstract:
Shrimp aquaculture has expanded rapidly in Thailand since the 1980s. In 1994 total export production totaled 248,000 metric tons and brought in foreign exchange revenue of billions of dollars. Although the shrimp culture industry is undergoing rapid development in a number of Asian countries, successful production is increasingly hampered by many factors, including environmental pollution, poor management and disease. Two new viruses, Systemic Ectodermal and Mesodermal Baculovirus (SEMBV) or White Spot Baculovirus (WSBV) and Yellow-Head virus (YHV), presently overshadow all other agents as the leading causes of major production losses in black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). The present study was intended to develop sensitive and specific procedures for SEMBV and YHV detection. SEMBV or WSBV was first reported as an accidental infection in laboratory reared shrimp in early 1994. An examination by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed enveloped, bacilli form virions with a distinctive multifibrillar appendage that measured 276 x 121 nm (excluding the appendage). This virus was placed in Baculovirus group. In this study, SEMBV DNA was used as a template for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of viral DNA fragments. PCR primers were designed from regions of conserved amino acid sequence in the polyhedrin genes of baculoviruses. A 473 bp PCR product was obtained. This DNA fragment was ligated to pUC18 plasmid and cloned into E coli DH5α. Clone no.l was selected and sequenced because it hybridized strongly to SEMBV DNA. The 473 bp inserted fragment of clone no.l was used as a probe in in situ hybridization. The probe were able to hybridize with SEMBV infected P. monodon but not with MBV and YHV infected specimens. A set of PCR primers derived from a cloned SEMBV DNA fragment was designed to amplify a 236 bp SEMBV-specific DNA fragment. No cross reaction was observed with other shrimp viruses. Two other sets of primers designed from SEMBV genomic sequence and from authentic IL-lα mRNA were combined with the first set of primers to confirm the PCR reaction: The limits of detection using purified DNA and crude DNA as templates were 10 fg in PCR using either one set of primers or three sets of primers. Detection in field samples using PCR with one set of primers or three sets of primers gave the same results. Yellow-head virus (YHV) was first reported in Thailand in 1992 when it caused pond-side losses of approximately 30 million US dollars. The morphology of negatively stained virions by TEM and nucleic acid preparation from purified YHV indicated that YHV was an RNA virus. Purified YHV-RNA was used as a template for reverse transcription and PCR amplification (RT-PCR). RT-PCR primers were designed from regions of conserved amino acid sequence in the L(polymerase) protein gene of Rhabdoviruses. A 450 bp RT-PCR product was obtained. This 450 bp product was ligated to pUC18 plasmid and cloned into E coli DH5α. The inserted fragments from clone no.10 and clone no.20 were selected and sequenced because they hybridized strongly to YHV-RNA. Using the selected sequences, a set of RT-PCR primers was designed to amplify a 151 bp YHV-specific RNA fragment. No cross reaction was observed with other shrimp viruses. The limit of detection was 5 fg of purified RNA. A comparative study of RT-PCR and H&E staining methods for detection of YHV in experimentally infected P. monodon was performed. The RT-PCR was able to detect YHV 6 hrs post infection of the virus whereas the H&E staining method was able to confirm YHV histopathology at 48 hrs post infection.