ABSTRACT
White spot disease is a major infectious disease of penaeid shrimps caused by the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The viral structural proteins are responsible for binding virus to the cellular membranes of the host that is being systematically infected. An In silico attempt was made to identify the potential drug to inhibit the WSSV spread of diseases. For that an effort, was made to deduce the antiviral potentiality of Cynodon dactylon derived phytochemicals with docking technique. To stimulate the structure based drug design the, 3D structure of the VP26 (PDB-ID: 2EDM), a tegument protein thought to be involved in the entry of WSSV nucleocapsid into the host nucleus, is retrieved from PDB database and docking studies are carried out with the sketched phytochemical structures using GOLD software. Among the phytochemicals screened, luteolin and apigenin shows the best binding affinity with binding energies of 42.51 and 38.92 K.cal/mol exhibiting the potential to block VP26 (2EDM) protein of WSSV. This study will be helpful in developing novel antiviral drugs from plant sources against aquatic important pathogens.