Sunday, 3 August 2025
Scientists have developed a handy diagnostic tool that detects an aquaculture pathogen known as the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV). The peptide-based diagnostic tool by scientists of Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has been granted a patent on March 31, 2022, as an alternative biorecognition element.
Infection caused by the WSSV to the shrimp Penaeus vannamei results in a huge loss of crop. This high-value super-food is susceptible to a wide range of viral and bacterial pathogens and the probability of occurrence of infections is rather high. Improved nutrition, probiotics, disease resistance, quality control of water, seed and feed, immuno-stimulants and affordable vaccines play an important role in enhancing the production. Technologies for early and rapid detection of pathogens on the field will help fish and shell-fish farming which provides significant export revenue to the country which is a leading supplier of shrimp to the US.
Dr Prabir Kulabhusan, Dr Jyutika Rajwade and Dr Kishore Paknikar developed a lateral flow assay using gold nanoparticles for easy visualisation of the results. Instead of using poly-/mono-clonal antibodies in assay development, the ARI scientists selected twelve amino acid-containing peptides from a phage display library by biopanning. This was a time- and cost-saving approach, eliminating the need for immunization of laboratory animals to obtain the antisera. With the use of peptides, cold-chain requirements for storage are reduced and the assay becomes production-friendly.
The inventors have published this research in Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology and the Journal of Molecular Modelling. ARI PhD student Snehal Jamalpure-Lakka presented this idea at the National Bio-Entrepreneurship Conclave (NBEC)-2021 and was awarded.
