Han Ching Wang

TL;DR: It is shown that an AHPND-causing strain of V. parahaemolyticus contains a 70-kbp plasmid with a postsegregational killing system, and that the ability to cause disease is abolished by the natural absence or experimental deletion of the plasmids-encoded homologs of the Photorhabdus insect-related toxins PirA and PirB.

TL;DR: White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) virions were purified from the hemolymph of experimentally infected crayfish Procambarus clarkii, and their proteins were separated by 8 to 18% gradient sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to give a protein profile.

TL;DR: Triton X-100 was used in combination with various concentrations of NaCl to separate intact WSSV virions into distinct fractions such that each fraction contained envelope and tegument proteins, Tegument and nucleocapsid proteins, or nucleocapid proteins only.

TL;DR: It is determined that AHPND-causing strains of V. parahaemolyticus secrete the plasmid-encoded binary toxin PirAB(vp) into the culture medium, and by using minimum inhibitory concentrations, it is found that both virulent and non-virulent V.Parahaemoleticus strains were resistant to several antibiotics, suggesting that the use of antibiotics in shrimp culture should be more strictly regulated.

TL;DR: This study is the first global analysis of differentially expressed proteins in WSSV-infected shrimp, and in addition to increasing the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of this virus-associated shrimp disease, the results presented here should be useful both for identifying potential biomarkers and for developing antiviral measures.