title: Establishment and Persistence of Baculovirus penaei Infections in Cultured Pacific White Shrimp, Penaeus vannamei
abstract: The time course for establishment of a baculovirus (BP) infection and the persistence of infections in larvae and postlarvae of the Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei was investigated. In two preliminary studies, postlarvae were inoculated with BP and the prevalence of infections was monitored over 138- and 73-day periods. Viral polyhedra characteristic of patent infections first appeared 24 hr after inoculation, were present in all shrimp examined 14-17 days postinoculation (p.i.), and then decreased in prevalence during the remainder of each study. BP infections could not be detected by in situ hybridization in shrimp collected during the final day of each study. In a third and more comprehensive study, PCR-based diagnostic procedures were used to detect BP in experimentally infected shrimp over a 120-day period. In that study, BP was first detected in viral exposed mysis stage shrimp 12 hr p.i., was present in all shrimp examined by 72 hr p.i., and decreased in prevalence during the remainder of the study. BP infections could not be detected by PCR-based diagnostics in shrimp collected on the final day of the study. Only 1 of 10 previously infected shrimp collected at 31 days p.i. and diagnosed for BP by bioassay was infected. Results of this study indicate similarities between P. vannamei and some species of insects in the time required for establishment and loss of a patent baculovirus infection.
authors.affiliation: Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 39566-7000
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Stuck
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wang