DAO 23:59-66 (1995)  -  doi:10.3354/dao023059

PvSNPV isolated from the shrimp Penaeus vannamei was characterized after purification. In negative staining, the rod-shaped, enveloped particles were 312 to 320 nm in length and 75 to 87 nm in diameter. The nucleocapsids, 306 to 312 nm in length and 62 to 68 nm in diameter, showed a cross-hatched surface arranged in a helical pattern and a trilaminar structure capping both extremities. Purified occlusion body subunits (polyhedrin subunits) were 17 to 19 nm in diameter and, in SDS-PAGE, demonstrated 1 major polypeptide of 52 kDa. BamHI digested viral genome revealed at least 7 different fragments. Cloning of these DNA fragments, and the resulting study of them, revealed the presence of 2 more fragments which had co-migrated in gel electrophoresis. The cloned fragments, which represent about 40% of the estimated size of the genome, were characterized by their size and by the position of restriction sites. When the cloned fragments were labeled and used as probes, no homology was found among the different inserts. These gene probes reacted with different BP-type strains, but not with uninfected shrimp tissue. The gene probes also did not react with shrimp tissues infected with other shrimp viruses, indicating their specificity for the BP-type viruses.

BP . PvSNPV . Penaeid shrimp . Genome cloning . Gene probes