Transcriptome Analysis of Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Hepatopancreas in Response to Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV) Experimental Infection

BackgroundThe Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, is a worldwide cultured crustacean species with important commercial value. Over the last two decades, Taura syndrome virus (TSV) has seriously threatened the shrimp aquaculture industry in the Western Hemisphere. To better understand the interaction between shrimp immune and TSV, we performed a transcriptome analysis in the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei challenged with TSV, using the 454 pyrosequencing (Roche) technology. Methodology/Principal FindingsWe obtained 126919 and 102181 high-quality reads from TSV-infected and non-infected (control) L. vannamei cDNA libraries, respectively. The overall de novo assembly of cDNA sequence data generated 15004 unigenes, with an average length of 507 bp. Based on BLASTX search (E-value Conclusions/SignificanceThis study provides valuable information on shrimp gene activities against TSV infection. Results can contribute to the in-depth study of candidate genes in shrimp immunity, and improves our current understanding of this host-virus interaction. In addition, the large amount of transcripts reported in this study provide a rich source for identification of novel genes in shrimp.