In the absence of adaptive immunity, the innate immune system
plays an important role in the defence system of invertebrates including
crustaceans, which includes humoral and cellular immunity. Additionally,
the innate immune response of shrimp is generally activated
based on generic pathogen-associated molecular patterns that are recognized
by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) (Li and Xiang, 2013).
In this study, the key molecules involved in the recognition and humoral
immune response were investigated in the midgut or hepatopancreas.