This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Liu, W.-J. Articles by Lo, C.-F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Liu, W.-J. Articles by Lo, C.-F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, February 2007, p. 1461-1471, Vol. 81, No. 3
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01880-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

White Spot Syndrome Virus Annexes a Shrimp STAT To Enhance Expression of the Immediate-Early Gene ie1

Wang-Jing Liu,¹ Yun-Shiang Chang,² Andrew H.-J. Wang,³ Guang-Hsiung Kou,^1* and Chu-Fang Lo^1*

Institute of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,¹ Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Da-Yeh University, Chang-Hua, Taiwan,² Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan³

Received 30 August 2006/ Accepted 12 October 2006

Although the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway is part of the antiviral response in arthropods such as Drosophila, here we show that white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) uses a shrimp STAT as a transcription factor to enhance viral gene expression in host cells. In a series of deletion and mutation assays using the WSSV immediate-early gene ie1 promoter, which is active in shrimp cells and also in insect Sf9 cells, an element containing a STAT binding motif was shown to be important for the overall level of WSSV ie1 promoter activity. In the Sf9 insect cell line, a specific protein-DNA complex was detected by using electrophoresis mobility shift assays (EMSA) with the ³²P-labeled STAT binding motif of the WSSV ie1 promoter as the probe. When recombinant Penaeus monodon STAT (rPmSTAT) was overexpressed in Sf9 cells, EMSA with specific antibodies confirmed that the STAT was responsible for the formation of the specific protein-DNA complex. Another EMSA showed that in WSSV-infected P. monodon, levels of activated PmSTAT were higher than in WSSV-free P. monodon. A transactivation assay of the WSSV ie1 promoter demonstrated that increasing the level of rPmSTAT led to dose-dependent increases in ie1 promoter activity. These results show that STAT directly transactivates WSSV ie1 gene expression and contributes to its high promoter activity. We conclude that WSSV successfully annexes a putative shrimp defense mechanism, which it uses to enhance the expression of viral immediate-early genes.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Phone: 886-2-33662453. Fax: 886-2-23638179. E-mail for Chu-Fang Lo: gracelow{at}ntu.edu.tw. E-mail for Guang-Hsiung Kou: ghkou{at}ntu.edu.tw.

Published ahead of print on 1 November 2006.

---

Journal of Virology, February 2007, p. 1461-1471, Vol. 81, No. 3
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01880-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Chang, Y.-S., Liu, W.-J., Chou, T.-L., Lee, Y.-T., Lee, T.-L., Huang, W.-T., Kou, G.-H., Lo, C.-F. (2008). Characterization of White Spot Syndrome Virus Envelope Protein VP51A and Its Interaction with Viral Tegument Protein VP26. J. Virol. 82: 12555-12564 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Liu, W.-J., Chang, Y.-S., Wang, H.-C., Leu, J.-H., Kou, G.-H., Lo, C.-F. (2008). Transactivation, Dimerization, and DNA-Binding Activity of White Spot Syndrome Virus Immediate-Early Protein IE1. J. Virol. 82: 11362-11373 [Abstract] [Full Text]