Transcriptome analysis of gills from the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei infected with White Spot Syndrome Virus

We report the analysis of 872 cDNA clones from a WSSV-infected white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei gill cDNA library. Comparison against the GenBank protein and nucleotide sequences identified 87% (E ≤ 10−2) as previously known genes, while 13% are novel sequences. The 601 ESTs (87%) represent transcripts of 276 genes. These genes were categorized into 12 groups according to their functions. The more abundant categories were (1) ribosomal proteins (21%), (2) WSSV transcripts and sequences without homology to proteins deposited in the non-redundant database (15%), (3) hypothetical proteins (12%) which include genes never described in shrimp and (4) metabolism related proteins (9%). We also found genes involved in stress and immune response; and only one involved in ion transport. Full-length sequences of keratinocyte associated protein 2 (KCP2), selenoprotein M (SelM), chicadae, prohibitin and oncoprotein nm23 are reported. Their mRNAs steady state levels in addition to ferritin, changed at different times post-WSSV infection as estimated by RT-PCR. These results suggest that WSSV alters gene expression in gills and has led to the identification of novel white shrimp specific genes.