Mortalities of Penaeus vannamei, cultured in ponds in Belize, Central America, began during the last part of the grow-out cycle during the cold weather months from September 2004 through February 2005. Tissue squashes of infected hepatopancreata and histological examination of infected shrimp revealed that the mortalities might have been caused by an endoparasite. To confirm the diagnosis, DNA ...

The objective of this research is to test the effects of copper on the color of pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in vivo. Forty-eight shrimps (L. vannamei) were exposed to a low concentration of copper (1 mg/L; experimental treatment) and forty-eight shrimps were used as controls (no copper added to the water). As a result of this experiment, it was found that shrimps with more coppe...

There is a debate on whether invertebrates possess an antiviral immunity similar to the interferon (IFN) system of vertebrates. The Vago gene from arthropods encodes a viral-activated secreted peptide that restricts virus infection through activating the JAK-STAT pathway and is considered to be a cytokine functionally similar to IFN. In this study, the first crustacean IFN regulatory factor (IR...

In response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, the signaling pathway termed unfolded protein response (UPR) is activated. To investigate the role of UPR in Litopenaeus vannamei immunity, the activating transcription factor 4 (designated as LvATF4) which belonged to a branch of the UPR, the [protein kinase RNA (PKR)-like ER kinase, (PERK)]-[eukaryotic initiation factor 2 subunit alpha (eIF2α)...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play an important role in regulating both adaptive and innate immunity. Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is the most widely farmed crustacean species in the world. However, little is known about the role miRNAs play in shrimp immunity. To understand the impact of viral infection on miRNA expression in shrimp, we used high-throughput sequencing technolo...

The giant or black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, was formerly the dominant cultured shrimp species in Asia. Since approximately 2002, it has been essentially replaced by the domesticated American whiteleg shrimp P. vannamei. The change in dominant species has affected disease concerns. For both species, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and yellow head virus (YHV) are the most lethal. For P. mo...

It is estimated that approximately 60% of disease losses in shrimp aquaculture have been caused by viral pathogens and 20% by bacterial pathogens. By comparison, losses to fungi and parasites have been relatively small. For bacterial pathogens, Vibrio species are the most important while for viral pathogens importance has changed since 2003 when domesticated and genetically selected stocks of t...

Timely pond-side detection of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) plays a critical role in the implementation of bio-security measures to help minimize economic losses caused by white spot syndrome disease, an important threat to shrimp aquaculture industry worldwide. A portable device, namely POCKIT™, became available recently to complete fluorescent probe-based insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR), ...

Osmoregulation in Litopenaeus vannamei was studied in a factorial experiment at four temperatures (20, 24, 28 and 32 degrees C) and six salinities (10, 16, 22, 28, 34 and 40 per thousand). The isosmotic related points for 20, 24, 28, and 32 degrees C were 754, 711, 822, and 763 mmol/kg, respectively. This species hyperregulates between at salinities of 10 and 20 per thousand and hyporegulates b...

Bacillus licheniformis strain CG-B52 was isolated as the etiological agent producing a self-limited outbreak of high mortalities in commercial Litopenaeus vannamei culture ponds on the Colombian Caribbean coast in 2005. Here, we report its draft genome and three novel extrachromosomal elements that it harbors.