Recurrent outbreaks of a disease in pond-cultured juvenile and subadult Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp in several districts in China remain an important problem in recent years. The disease was characterized by "white tail" and generally accompanied by mass mortalities. Based on data from the microscopical analyses, PCR detection and 16S rRNA sequencing, a new Vibrio harveyi strain (designated as ...

Hemocyanin is a multifunctional glycoprotein, which also plays multiple roles in immune defense. While it has been demonstrated that hemocyanin from some mollusks can induce potent immune response and is therefore undergoing clinical trials to be used in anti-tumor immunotherapy, little is currently known about how hemocyanin from arthropods affect tumors. In this study we investigated the anti...

This study investigates white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) gene expression levels in the cells of 2 hosts (Penaeus monodon and Litopenaeus vannamei). Microarray and expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis of the mRNA profiles in WSSV-infected P. monodon cells were used to identify WSSV genes that were very highly expressed. Results showed that the mRNA of the WSSV icp11 gene consistently had the hi...

Non-lethal heat shock boosts bacterial and viral disease tolerance in shrimp, possibly due to increases in endogenous heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and/or immune proteins. To further understand the mechanisms protecting shrimp against infection, Hsp70 and the mRNAs encoding the immune-related proteins prophenoloxidase (proPO), peroxinectin, penaeidin, crustin and hemocyanin were studied in post...