Abstract:
Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) has been associated with deformities and
growth retardation in Penaeus vannamei and other Penaeid shrimp. However, in many instances, this virus seems
to co-exist with its host, with up to 100% of the members of a population being asymptomatic carriers. High
prevalence of virus in the absence of disease may indicate the existence of a state of latency, and the integration of
viral sequences in the host could provide a mechanism for IHHNV to establish such latency. The present study was
conducted to determine the presence of IHHNV sequences integrated into the genome of P.vannamei, using
Southern blot for the analysis of genomic DNA samples from adult shrimps. The results of this investigation showed
no evidence of integration of IHHNV in the population of P.vannamei analyzed, despite observing a high
prevalence of virus in the population. These results favor the hypothesis of infectious IHHNV as a source of the
high viral prevalence observed in domesticated populations in Ecuador, although the possibility of integration of
IHHNV in this and other populations cannot be ruled out on the bases of these studies alone.
