Abstract
Penaeus vannamei singly enveloped nuclear polyhedrosis virus (PvSNPV), also known as Baculovirus penaei (BP), is the first viral pathogen of penaeid shrimp described in 1974. Although PvSNPV was discovered almost 50 years ago, the complete genome sequence has not been elucidated until now. We detected the virus in a quarantine stock of P. vannamei shrimp by light microscopy of faecal samples and by PCR screening of broodstock. Subsequently, next-generation sequencing was deployed to determine the complete genome sequence of PvSNPV. The PvSNPV genome is a circular, double-stranded DNA molecule of 119 883 bp in length encoding 101 ORFs. The deduced aa sequences from 28 ORFs were homologous to 28 core proteins from all identified nudiviruses. Phylogenetic analyses based on deduced aa sequences of the core genes and orthologous genes revealed that PvSNPV clusters with Penaeus monodon nudivirus. Therefore, we propose to rename BP/PvSNPV as P. vannamei nudivirus and re-assign the virus to the family Nudiviridae instead of Baculoviridae.