English

Abstract

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a significant cause of tiger shrimp mortality, and has a profound economic impact on commercial shrimp farming. A transgenic technology provides an effective method to control the viral disease by increasing the shrimp resistance. The study aimed to assess the overexpression of the PmAV (Penaeus monodon antiviral) gene on the embryo/larvae of tiger shrimp and the performance of transgenic shrimp by WSSV-challenge test. Transfection of pProAV-PmAV gene construct into the embryo was conducted using jetPEI reagent. Transient antiviral gene expression was detected at 12, 18, 24 and 30 h post transfection (hpt). The tiger shrimp larvae of PL-25 were challenged by waterborne infection technique. Survival and expression of antiviral genes were observed after challenge test. The results showed that the PmAV gene and the jetPEI reagent did not have the toxicity to the tiger shrimp larvae. The transient antiviral gene expression was exhibited at 12 hpt until the peak reached within 24 hpt and then decreased slightly at 30 hpt. This suggested that the expression of PmAV during infection was an up-regulated sign. The challenge test result showed that the transgenic tiger shrimp exhibited higher resistance (P < 0.05) to the WSSV infection (95.6% survival rate) than the control shrimp (71.1% survival rate). The 47-day transgenic tiger shrimp did not show significant difference (P > 0.05) in body weight and length gain as well as appearance, morphology, and activity from normal control shrimps. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers