Joseph Carlo V Vergel
University of Santo Tomas
Philippines
Title: Functional elucidation of PvRaf from Penaeus vannamei using RNA interference
Biography
Biography: Joseph Carlo V Vergel
Abstract
Shrimp aquaculture is a major source of income in the intertropical countries of the Southeast Asian region. However, a great decline in production was observed due to a major viral pathogen, the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) which continues to prevail despite many preventive measures applied to deter the virus. RNA interference (RNAi) technology has been employed to reveal functions of sequence specific genes in the virus and its host with the aim of controlling WSSV by elucidating complex host-virus interactions. RNAi is a relatively new technology that introduces double stranded RNA to specifically destroy cognate mRNA. This study reports the first record of Raf gene in a crustacean system. PvRaf serves as central intermediate in many signalling pathways, ultimately regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, development, and innate immune system responses, by connecting upstream tyrosine kinases with downstream serine/threonine kinases. Moreover, PvRaf is ubiquitously expressed in the vital organs of the shrimp suggesting that it is essential to metabolic functions of the shrimp and may also play a role in its innate immune system as highlighted in its expression in the haemocytes. Four set-ups were prepared to analyze the sequence specific silencing of PvRaf namely: PvRaf-dsRNA treatment, GFP-dsRNA treatment, PBS treatment, and naive control. Statistical analysis of the mortality assay indicates that PvRaf-dsRNA treatment has a significant protective effect against WSSV compared to GFP-dsRNA and PBS treatments.
