Expression analysis of selected haemocyte transcripts from black tiger shrimp infected with yellow head virus

Yellow head virus (YHV) is a lethal Penaeid shrimp virus that has caused significant losses to aquaculture farms raising black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon). In order to probe some of the underlying molecular events occurring in P monodon cells in response to YHV infection, we investigated the response of 96 selected shrimp haemocyte transcripts from 90 distinct genes at 24 hours post infection using cDNA macroarray hybridization. We found that the transcripts encoding for PMCP423 (innexin-2-like protein) and NF229 (optomotor blind-like protein) showed increased expression, while those encoding for PMC252 (clathrin light chain) and PMC238 (selenoprotein W-like) showed a decreased expression. Interestingly, no significant alteration in expression levels was noted for several transcripts involved in immune or defence functions such as the putative anti-lipopolysaccharide factor, proteinase inhibitor, or crustin-like antibacterial protein. The reduced level of expressed selenoprotein W transcript in YHV-infected shrimp haemocytes might be related to systemic apoptosis and death of the shrimp.