Viral resistance in shrimp that express an antisense Taura syndrome virus coat protein gene

Taura syndrome virus (TSV) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in shrimp, and has a profound economic impact on commercial U.S. shrimp farming. This paper describes the stable expression of an antisense Taura syndrome virus-coat protein (TSV-CP) gene construct in shrimp zygotes, via transfection using jetPEI reagent, over a period of at least 236 days. The transgenic shrimp showed no statistically significant difference from normal control shrimp in terms of weight gain or their appearance, morphology, swimming and eating activities. When challenged with live TSV, the transgenic shrimp exhibited increased resistance to the TSV infection (83% survival rate) as compared to control animals (44% survival rate). This work demonstrates that transgenic shrimp, which stably express an antisense transcript from the TSV-CP gene, are partially resistant to TSV infection. These data may have an important implication for commercial shrimp farming.