Isolation of differentially expressed genes from white spot virus (WSV) infected Pacific blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris)

To isolate novel cellular factors that are activated or repressed upon WSV infection, the RNA fingerprints of healthy and WSV infected blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris) were compared using the mRNA differential display technique. Thirty-two unique differentially expressed, and one constitutively expressed, cDNA sequences were retrieved. Six of 32 cDNAs showed similarities with the database entries: cDNA 10G32-142 to a shrimp arginine kinase, 22C48-201 to shrimp mitochondrial ATPase gene; 22C47-197, 21G49-203 and 20A55-268 to shrimp ESTs and 20G50-206 to a WSV gene, ORF 116. The constitutively expressed gene showed significant similarity to a yeast elongation factor 1-alpha gene. The expression of a subset of differentially expressed genes (13 of 32) was further evaluated by real-time RT-PCR. Ten of 13 genes showed statistically significant changes in expression between healthy and WSV infected animals suggesting that these genes may play an important role in WSV pathogenesis.