Identification Of The Nucleocapsid Protein Genes From White Spot Syndrome Virus And Research Into The Reaction Between Nucleocapsid Proteins

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV), the only species of the genus Whispovirus of the family NimAViridae, is a most virulent viral disease known in the shrimp farming industry around the world and can also infect most species of crustacean, such as crabs and crayfish. It has a high infection and mortality rate, and is hard to be controlled. Therefore WSSV is not only a major threat to the shrimp industry but also to the marine environment everywhere. In this thesis, some genes related with viral nucleocapsid proteins of WSSV were identified. This work will facilitate us to understand the underlying molecular mechanism in viral infection and find some important proteins involved in the transcription and reproduction of the virus. All in all, the study will provide powerful scientific foundations for the efficient diagnosis and control of WSSV in the end.Recently, intact viral particles were purified from the tissues of experimentally infected crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) with high yield in our lab. Based on SDS-PAGE of purified WSSV nucleocapsid fraction and mass spectrometry analysis, three proteins with the molecular mass of 51 kDa, 60 kDa and 76 kDa were identified to match three open reading frames (ORFs), wsv308, wsv415, and wsv220 of WSSV genome, respectively. Three ORFs were 1398 bp, 1632 bp and 2022 bp in length, encoding 466 aa, 544 aa and 674 aa, respectively. The proteins were named VP51, VP60 and VP76 and their genes were termed as vp51, vp60 and vp76, respectively. Temporal transcription analysis revealed that vp51, vp60 and vp76 were all late genes.vp51 and vp76 were both thought to be envelope proteins in previous studies. To clarify the controversy and research in vp60, we designed several...