Viral diseases of the giant fresh water prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii: a review

The giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii is cultivated essentially in Southern and South-eastern Asian countries such as continental China, India, Thailand and Taiwan. To date, only two viral agents have been reported from this prawn. The first (HPV-type virus) was observed by chance 25 years ago in hypertrophied nuclei of hepatopancreatic epithelial cells and is closely related to members of the Parvoviridae family. The second, a nodavirus named MrNV, is always associated with a non-autonomous satellite-like virus (XSV), and is the origin of so-called white tail disease (WTD) responsible for mass mortalities and important economic losses in hatcheries and farms for over a decade. After isolation and purification of these two particles, they were physico-chemically characterized and their genome sequenced. The MrNV genome is formed with two single linear ss-RNA molecules, 3202 and 1250 nucleotides long, respectively. Each RNA segment contains only one ORF, ORF1 coding for the RNA-dependant RNA polymerase located on the long segment and ORF2 coding for the structural protein CP-43 located on the small one. The XSV genome (linear ss-RNA), 796 nucleotides long, contains a single ORF coding for the XSV coat protein CP-17. The XSV does not contain any RdRp gene and consequently needs the MrNV polymerase to replicate.     

Expression and Assembly Mechanism of the Capsid Proteins of a Satellite Virus （XSV） Associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii Nodavirus

The extra small virus （XSV） is a satellite virus associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus （MrNV） and its genome consists of two overlapping ORFs, CP17 and CP16. Here we demonstrate that CP16 is expressed from the second AUG of the CP17 gene and is not a proteinase cleavage result of CP17. We further expressed CP17 and several truncated CP17s （in which the N-or C-terminus or both was deleted）, respectively, in Escherichia coli. Except for the recombinant plasmid CP17^AC10, all recombinant plasmids expressed soluble protein which assembled into virus-like particles （VLPs）, suggesting that the C-terminus is important for VLP formation.     

Expression and Assembly Mechanism of the Capsid Proteins of a Satellite Virus (XSV) Associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii Nodavirus

The extra small virus (XSV) is a satellite virus associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and its genome consists of two overlapping ORFs, CP17 and CP16. Here we demonstrate that CP16 is expressed from the second AUG of the CP17 gene and is not a proteinase cleavage result of CP17. We further expressed CP17 and several truncated CP17s (in which the N- or C-terminus or both was deleted), respectively, in Escherichia coli. Except for the recombinant plasmid CP17ΔC10, all recombinant plasmids expressed soluble protein which assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs), suggesting that the C-terminus is important for VLP formation.     

Expression and assembly mechanism of the capsid proteins of a satellite virus (XSV) associated with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrobrachium rosenbergii</Emphasis> nodavirus

The extra small virus (XSV) is a satellite virus associated with Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and its genome consists of two overlapping ORFs, CP17 and CP16. Here we demonstrate that CP16 is expressed from the second AUG of the CP17 gene and is not a proteinase cleavage result of CP17. We further expressed CP17 and several truncated CP17s (in which the N-or C-terminus or both was deleted), respectively, in Escherichia coli. Except for the recombinant plasmid CP17^δC10, all recombinant plasmids expressed soluble protein which assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs), suggesting that the C-terminus is important for VLP formation. Foundation item: National Natural Science Foundation of China (30370057).