CTSL and infection: Previous work has shown an increase in the expression of cathepsin L following infections of the Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodovirus and white spot syndrome virus in the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii (64), while colocalization of cathepsin L with phagocytosed V. splendidus in the phagolysosome suggests that this protein probably has direct antimicrobial activity during pathogen phagocytosis as a component of the C. gigas innate immune response.