The Matrix De-Shrimp-led

The shrimp industry is threatened by a devastating disease known as EMS/AHPND which is caused by the pathogenic bacteria, Vibrio parahaemolyticus carrying a plasmid encoding two toxins. It is unclear where do these pathogens originate from in Malaysia and there are no effective management strategies. The outbreak is capable of causing mass mortality of shrimp postlarvae within 30 days of stocking causing massive economic loss. Thus, using next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics tools, the origin of these pathogens can be predicted to inform farmers of the potential source of contamination and the diversity of the pathogen can be studied which led to the development of a detection method to screen different disease severity. Further, a time-series gene expression study was conducted which highlights other genes that may play a role in the disease manifestation. Additional statistical analysis and validation are currently underway to confirm this finding.