A Review of the Functional Annotations of Important Genes in the AHPND-Causing pVA1 Plasmid

Microorganisms

Arpita Mohapatra¹  Shin-Jen Lin²  Han-Ching Wang²  Ramya Kumar²  Hao-Ching Wang³ 

[1] Graduate Institute of Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan;International Center for the Scientific Development of Shrimp Aquaculture, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan;The Ph.D. Program for Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University and Academia Sinica, Taipei 110, Taiwan;

关键词: acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease;    Vibrio parahaemolyticus;    pVA1 plasmid;    PirA^vp;    PirB^vp;    transposases;   

DOI  :  10.3390/microorganisms8070996

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a lethal shrimp disease. The pathogenic agent of this disease is a special Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain that contains a pVA1 plasmid. The protein products of two toxin genes in pVA1, pirA^vp and pirB^vp, targeted the shrimp’s hepatopancreatic cells and were identified as the major virulence factors. However, in addition to pirA^vp and pirB^vp, pVA1 also contains about ~90 other open-reading frames (ORFs), which may encode functional proteins. NCBI BLASTp annotations of the functional roles of 40 pVA1 genes reveal transposases, conjugation factors, and antirestriction proteins that are involved in horizontal gene transfer, plasmid transmission, and maintenance, as well as components of type II and III secretion systems that may facilitate the toxic effects of pVA1-containing Vibrio spp. There is also evidence of a post-segregational killing (PSK) system that would ensure that only pVA1 plasmid-containing bacteria could survive after segregation. Here, in this review, we assess the functional importance of these pVA1 genes and consider those which might be worthy of further study.

【 授权许可】

Unknown