Differential gene expression in black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, following administration of oxytetracycline and oxolinic acid.

The intensification of shrimp farming systems has led to the spreading of a variety of bacterial and viral diseases that continue to plague the shrimp industry worldwide. Efforts to combat these pathogenic organisms include the use of immunostimulants, probiotics, vaccines and antibiotics. Although a few studies have already reported on the effects of various stimuli on shrimp, the effect of antibiotics, particularly on the changes in the shrimp transcriptomic profile have yet to be reported. Here we show that injecting shrimp with oxytetracycline and oxolinic acid alters the expression of genes in the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, lymphoid organ. These antibiotics, especially oxylinic acid, down-regulated the expression of a few immune-related genes, most notably penaeidin, proPO, clotting protein, profilin and whey acidic protein.

Partial characterization of a novel bacteriophage of Vibrio harveyi isolated from shrimp culture ponds in Thailand.

A bacteriophage was isolated together with Vibrio harveyi (VH) 1114 a from a black tiger shrimp-rearing pond in Thailand. By negative staining transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the phage had an icosahedral head (diameter 60-62 nm), a rigid, non-contractile tail (9-10 nm x 100-120 nm) without a collar or terminal fibers and a genome of double stranded DNA of approximately 80 kb as determined by analysis of restriction enzyme digestion fragments. Since these features would place it in the family Siphoviridae, it was tentatively named V. harveyi siphoviridae-like phage or VHS1. VHS1 could also infect two VH reference strains LMD 22.30 and LMD 80.33 (=ATCC 14126) but yielded smaller plaques than with VH1114. The phage tolerated temperatures as high as 60 degrees C for up to 2h and overnight exposure to a broad range of pH. VHS1 lysogens of VH1114 were unstable, contained unaltered VHS1 DNA, were immune to VHS1 lysis and spontaneously released VHS1 in liquid cultures. Approximately 20 kb of the genome has been sequenced and deposited at GenBank but it mostly showed no significant homology with existing sequences in the database.

Cell-surface properties of Lactococcus garvieae strains and their immunogenicity in the yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata.

The cell-surface properties of strains of Lactococcus garvieae were examined. Two capsular types were found, one with a highly developed capsule (KG9408) and one with a micro-capsule (MS93003) carrying fimbriae-like components projecting from the cell surface. One strain (NSS9310) had neither cell capsular nor fimbriae-like structures on its cell surface. The strains with the highly developed capsule were more virulent to fish than either the micro-capsular or non-capsular strains. The KG9408, MS93003 and NSS9310 strains could be clearly differentiated by their susceptibility to bacteriophages. Protection against L. garvieae infection was induced in the yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata by immunization with formalin-killed L. garvieae KG9408 and MS93003 cells. Although protection was also induced by immunization with NSS9310, the level of protection was significantly lower than that with KG9408 and MS93003 vaccines. Passive immunization with yellowtail immune sera raised against KG9408 and MS93003 conferred strong protection on yellowtail with rapid bacterial clearance after challenge with L. garvieae. Immunoblotting analysis of protein antigens extracted from L. garvieae strains using rabbit anti-KG9408 and anti-MS93003 sera and yellowtail anti-KG9408 and anti-MS93003 sera indicated that some bands in KG9408 and MS93003 strains were not detectable in NSS9310.