Recombinant Antibody-Based Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Rapid Detection of White Spot Syndrome Virus Using VP24, VP26, And VP35 Proteins

Abstract

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) continues to threaten global shrimp aquaculture by causing acute infections and mass mortalities. In this study, three WSSV structural proteins (VP24, VP26, and VP35) were expressed recombinantly and used for polyclonal antibody generation to develop a lateral flow immunoassay (LFA). Protein yields ranged from 2.8 to 4.3 mg/L, with VP35 showing the highest expression. ELISA revealed strong antibody responses, particularly against VP35, with OD450 values reaching 1.35 at 1:6400 dilution. Immunoinformatics analysis identified seven potential B-cell epitopes, of which six displayed high antigenicity. The developed LFA demonstrated a detection limit of 8 ng/mL of WSSV protein and showed no cross-reactivity with other shrimp pathogens. The study highlights the potential of recombinant proteins in creating reliable, field-deployable diagnostic kits for early WSSV detection.