Shrimp recombinant baculovirus

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a large DNA virus infecting shrimp and other crustaceans. The virus particles contain at least five major virion proteins, of which three (VP26, VP24, and VP15) are present in the rod-shaped nucleocapsid and two (VP28 and VP19) reside in the envelope. The mode of entry and systemic infection of WSSV in the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, and the role of these proteins in these processes are not known. A specific polyclonal antibody was generated against the major envelope protein VP28 using a baculovirus expression vector system...

Luciferases are unique enzymes in being capable of emitting visible light as one of the end-products of their catalysis. Both procaryotic and eucaryotic organisms exist that emit light, and the luciferases from these organisms differ considerably in size as well as chemistry of catalysis. Two main, i.e. most studied groups, are the bacterial luciferases of e.g. Vibrio fisheri, Vibrio harveyi, and Photorhabdus luminescens, responding to FMNH2, long-chain aldehyde and molecular oxygen and the insect luciferases of the fireflies Photinus pyralis and Luciola minengrelica or click beetle Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus, responding to ATP, luciferin and molecular oxygen...

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) is an invertebrate virus, causing considerable mortality in shrimp. Two structural proteins of WSSV were identified. WSSV virions are enveloped nucleocapsids with a bacilliform morphology with an approximate size of 275 x 120 nm, and a tail-like extension at one end. The double-stranded viral DNA has an approximate size 290 kb. WSSV virions, isolated from infected shrimps, contained four major proteins: 28 kDa (VP28), 26 kDa (VP26), 24 kDa (VP24), and 19 kDa (VP19) in size, respectively...