This pair of 18S rRNA gene primers did not react to genomic
DNA of P. vannamei (Fig. 2, lane 8), P. monodon, P. indicus,
P. stylirostris and M. rosenbergii (data not shown). During the
broodstock maturation, polychaetes, squids and Artemia biomass
are often added to the shrimp diets, these organisms have been
suspected to be carriers of EHP and are being frequently tested
for the presence of EHP. Our PCR results showed that the
EHP-primers did not reacted to genomic DNA of polychaetes,
squids and Artemia biomass. We also tested DNA from crabs which
were collected from the shrimp ponds, the results showed the EHP
primers did not cross react with these crustaceans.