Observations on the Ultrastracture of Baculovirus in Australian Penaeus monodon and Penaeus merguiensis

Abstract

Baculovirus particles were found in the digestive gland of Penaeus monodon from hatcheries and grow-out ponds in northern New South Wales, northern Queensland and the Northern Territory. Similar particles were seen in a Penaeus merguiensis specimen caught off Townsville, Queensland. The particles were found in the hypertrophied nuclei of hepatopancreatic epithelial cells, both free in the nucleoplasm and occluded in large eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies. The nucleocapsids of the particles measured 45-52 nm × 260-300 nm and resembled the baculovirus reported from Penaeus plebejus.