Indian Journal of Virology

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the causative agent of a disease that has led to severe mortalities of cultured shrimps in Taiwan and many other countries. Given the virulence and rapid replication of WSSV, we investigated its strategies against host defense mechanisms. Using microarrays and RT-PCR to screen for immediate early genes in cycloheximide-treated shrimp, we found 3 ie genes, one of which, ie1, has a very strong promoter. After subsequent study using deletion mutants and EMSA, a transactivation assay showed that WSV uniquely annexes the host defense protein PmSTAT to enhance expression of its ie1 gene. To better understand the pathogenesis of WSSV, 2-DE was used to produce protein expression profiles from samples taken at 48 hours post-infection (hpi) from the stomachs of Penaeus vannamei that were either specific pathogen free or else infected with WSSV. Seventy-five protein spots that consistently showed either a marked change in accumulated levels or else were highly expressed throughout the course of WSSV infection were selected for further study. By LC-nanoESI-MS/MS, a total of 53 proteins were identified, with functions that included energy production, calcium homeostasis, nucleic acid synthesis, signaling/communication, oxygen carrier/transportation, and SUMO related modification. This study is the first global analysis of differentially expressed proteins in WSSV-infected shrimp, and in addition to increasing our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of this virus-associated shrimp disease, the results presented here should be useful both for identifying potential biomarkers and for developing antiviral measures.