African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (16), pp. 1944-1948, 20 August 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Biochemical studies on changes associated with enzymes of glucose metabolism in white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infected with Penaeus monodon (Fabricius)

Suseela Mathew^1*, Ashok Kumar Kesavan Nair², Rangasamy Anandan¹, Pullanniyil Gopalan Nair Viswanathan Nair¹, and Koodenchery Devadasan¹

¹Biochemistry and Nutrition Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Matsyapuri (PO), Cochin 682 029, India.

²Quality Assurance and Management Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Matsyapuri (PO), Cochin 682 029, India.

^*Corresponding author. E-mail: suseela@ciftmail.org. Tel: 00 91 484 2666845.Fax: 00 91 484 2668212

Accepted 26 June, 2007

Tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon) were infected with white spot virus artificially by intramuscular injection of the virus inoculum. Haemolymph, hepatopancreas and muscle samples from the infected prawns were analyzed for glucose and enzymes viz aldolase, glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-diphosphatase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the carbohydrate metabolism. Glucose content reduced to 33% of its original value in 24 h of infection and to 31% in 48 h. Almost 95% loss in activity was observed in the case of fructose 1,6-diphosphatase in hepatopancreas, whereas the reduction in activity in muscle was 67%, after 48 h of infection. Glucose-6-phosphatase showed a reduction of 16 and 13% in hepatopancreas and muscle respectively during 24 h of infection. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase increased by 300% of original value in hepatopancreas, while in muscle the increase was only 30% of original value during 24 h of infection. No significant change in activity was noted in the case of aldolase. Even at moribund stage, the glycolytic pathway was not affected, as evident from the normal activity of aldolase observed in the present study.

Key words: WSSV, P. monodon, glucose, gluconeogenic enzymes, glycolytic enzymes.