Monoclonal Antibodies to a Penaeid Shrimp Parvovirus, Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV)

Abstract

Murine monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were developed to the parvovirus IHHNV, an important pathogen of cultured penaeid shrimp. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was standardized to evaluate six MAbs for their usefulness as rapid diagnostic tools for the identification of IHHNV in crude shrimp preparations and as tools for further study of the virus. Isotyping revealed that the MAbs were all immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies with kappa light chains. The MAbs distinguished between archived samples of IHHNV-infected and uninfected shrimp in the indirect ELISA. The six MAbs were also highly sensitive and specific when tested with purified IHHNV preparations by ELISA and immunoblot assays. Testing of fresh clinical specimens by ELISA indicated that some fresh crude shrimp extracts contain substances that bind murine antibodies nonspecifically, but these substances are not active in archived samples after long-term frozen storage.