Quantitative measurements of fibroin messenger RNA synthesis in the posterior silk gland of normal and mutant Bombyx mori

The amount of newly synthesized and accumulated fibroin messenger RNA has been measured quantitatively at various stages of posterior silk gland development in Bombyx mori. The two-step method involves fractionation on a Bio-Gel column which excludes the large mRNA, followed by RNAase T₁ digestion, and fractionation of the oligonucleotides on DEAE-Sephadex. Larvae in the feeding stages of the third and fourth instar synthesize and accumulate fibroin mRNA to about 2% of cellular RNA; this corresponds to 0.2 and 2 μg per pair of posterior glands in the third and fourth instars, respectively. More than 70% of this mRNA is degraded in vivo during the third and fourth moulting stages. Fibroin mRNA synthesis resumes again within the first 24 hours of the fifth instar; the mRNA accumulates and predominates over other DNA-like RNAs as the stage proceeds until finally it comprises about 3.5% of cellular RNA in a mature larva (170 μg per pair of posterior glands). These results indicate that more than 99% of the fibroin mRNA detected in the fifth instar is synthesized during this stage.Four spontaneous mutants of B. mori which synthesize very low levels of fibroin have been analyzed for their RNA content in the middle fifth instar. The total cellular RNA of the posterior gland is reduced to 4 to 7% of normal. Fibroin mRNA is more severely reduced to 1% of normal. In three heterozygotes, which have mutant phenotypes with respect to fibroin production, only slight increases of total cellular RNA and fibroin mRNA were observed. Thus, the primary biochemical lesion in these mutants is still unknown.The presumed ancestor to B. mori, the wild silkworm B. mandarina, was also analyzed for its fibroin mRNA. The mRNA isolated from fifth instar larvae of B. mandarina is indistinguishable from that of B. mori with respect to its nucleotide sequence, molecular weight and fraction of total cellular RNA.     

Comparative transcriptome analysis of wing discs from Bombyx mori and Bombyx mandarina

The insect wing is developed from the wing imaginal disc which is designed from the embryonic ectoderm. To get insight into gene expression profiles in wing discs of Bombyx mori during metamorphosis, we compared the gene expression in the wing between B. mori and B. mandarina moth through RNA-seq. Out of total valid reads identified from the 5th day of 5th instar larvae of silkworm (L5), 7th day of pupae (P7), 1st day of moth (M1) and 1st day of wild silkworm moth (WM1), 20,092,004, 29,251,647, 24,654,695 and 19,753,089 reads were mapped to the mRNA reference sequences of silkworm, respectively. 9229, 7048, 9268 and 6701 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were respectively recorded in P7 vs L5, M1 vs P7, M1 vs L5 and WM1 vs M1. Further, the peroxisome, ribosome, endocytosis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways were significantly regulated in the metamorphosis of the silkworm. Our study identified 16 orthologous genes with a positive selection from M1, which might be subjected to artificial selection in the domestication of B. mori and would play vital roles in the flight of B. mandarina.     

Effects of BmCPV Infection on Silkworm Bombyx mori Intestinal Bacteria

The gut microbiota has a crucial role in the growth, development and environmental adaptation in the host insect. The objective of our work was to investigate the microbiota of the healthy silkworm Bombyx mori gut and changes after the infection of B. mori cypovirus (BmCPV). Intestinal contents of the infected and healthy larvae of B. mori of fifth instar were collected at 24, 72 and 144 h post infection with BmCPV. The gut bacteria were analyzed by pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. 147(135) and 113(103) genera were found in the gut content of the healthy control female (male) larvae and BmCPV-infected female (male) larvae, respectively. In general, the microbial communities in the gut content of healthy larvae were dominated by Enterococcus, Delftia, Pelomonas, Ralstonia and Staphylococcus, however the abundance change of each genus was depended on the developmental stage and gender. Microbial diversity reached minimum at 144 h of fifth instar larvae. The abundance of Enterococcus in the females was substantially lower and the abundance of Delftia, Aurantimonas and Staphylococcus was substantially higher compared to the males. Bacterial diversity in the intestinal contents decreased after post infection with BmCPV, whereas the abundance of both Enterococcus and Staphylococcus which belongs to Gram-positive were increased. Therefore, our findings suggested that observed changes in relative abundance was related to the immune response of silkworm to BmCPV infection. Relevance analysis of plenty of the predominant genera showed the abundance of the Enterococcus genus was in negative correlation with the abundance of the most predominant genera. These results provided insight into the relationship between the gut microbiota and development of the BmCPV-infected silkworm.     

Morphological and electrophysiological differences in tarsal chemosensilla between the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina and the domesticated species Bombyx mori

Gustatory and olfactory senses of phytophagous insects play important roles in the recognition of host plants. In the domestic silkmoth Bombyx mori and its wild species Bombyx mandarina, the morphologies and responses of adult olfactory organs (antennae) have been intensely investigated. However, little is known about these features of adult gustatory organs and the influence of domestication on the gustatory sense. Here we revealed that both species have two types of sensilla (thick [T] and slim [S] types) on the fifth tarsomeres of the adult legs. In both species, females have 3.6–6.9 times more T-sensilla than males. Therefore, T-sensilla seem to play more important roles in females than in males. Moreover, gustatory cells of T-sensilla of B. mandarina females responded intensely to mulberry leaf extract in electrophysiological experiments, while T-sensilla of B. mori females (N4 strain) hardly responded to mulberry leaf extract. These results suggest that T-sensilla of B. mandarina females are involved in the recognition of oviposition sites. We also observed that, in three B. mori strains (N4, p50T, and Kinshu × Showa), the densities of sensilla on the fifth tarsomeres were much lower than in B. mandarina. These results indicate that domestication has influenced the tarsal gustatory system of B. mori.     

Molecular phylogeny of the domesticated silkworm,Bombyx mori, based on the sequences of mitochondrialcytochrome b genes

Pupae from the Chinese wild mulberry silkworm,Bombyx mandarina, and 11 representative strains of the domesticated silkworm,Bombyx mori were selected for preparation of mitochondrial DNA. The 5′-end fragments ofcytochrome b genes (Cytb) were generated by polymerase chain reaction products and sequenced directly. The homologous sequences of the JapaneseB. mandarina and three strains ofB. mori were from the GenBank database. The sequences of the 16 silkworm strains were analysed with DNASTAR software and a phylogenic tree was constructed using PHYLIP software. The result showed that: (i) The sequence divergence between the strains ofB. mori and the JapaneseB. mandarina was larger (5.4% ≈ 5.8%) compared with that between strains ofB. mori and the ChineseB. mandarina (0.8% ≈ 1.9%). Analysis of clustering also showed that the sequences ofB. mori strains and ChineseB. mandarina clustered into group (B group), while that of JapaneseB. mandarina (A group) was outside this cluster. This may be evidence for the hypothesis thatB. mori originated from ChineseB. mandarina. (ii) Among 14 strains ofB. mori, sequence divergence was small and the most divergence was seen between strains Yanhe-1 and Chuxiong, whose sequences branched off from those of the otherB. mori strains on the phylogenetic tree. From this and from historical records, we infer that the strains Yanhe-1 and Chuxiong originated independently from southwest China.     

Proteomics of larval hemolymph in Bombyx mori reveals various nutrient-storage and immunity-related proteins

The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an important economic insect for its production of silk. The larvae of many lepidopteran insects are major agricultural pests and often silkworm is explored as a model organism for other lepidopteran pest species. The hemolymph of caterpillars contains a lot of nutrient and immune components. In this study, we applied liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry to gain a better understanding of the larval hemolymph proteomics in B. mori. We identified 752 proteins in hemolymph collected from day-4 fourth instar and day-7 fifth instar. Nearly half the identified proteins (49 %) were predicted to function as binding proteins and 46 % were predicted to have catalytic activities. Apolipophorins, storage proteins, and 30K proteins constituted the most abundant groups of nutrient-storage proteins. Of them, 30K proteins showed large differences between fourth instar larvae and fifth instar larvae. Besides nutrient-storage proteins, protease inhibitors are also expressed very highly in hemolymph. The analysis also revealed lots of immunity-related proteins, including recognition, signaling, effectors and other proteins, comprising multiple immunity pathways in hemolymph. Our data provide an exhaustive research of nutrient-storage proteins and immunity-related proteins in larval hemolymph, and will pave the way for future physiological and pathological studies of caterpillars.     

Anatomical and functional analysis of domestication effects on the olfactory system of the silkmoth Bombyx mori

The silkmoth Bombyx mori is the main producer of silk worldwide and has furthermore become a model organism in biological research, especially concerning chemical communication. However, the impact domestication might have had on the silkmoth''s olfactory sense has not yet been investigated. Here, we show that the pheromone detection system in B. mori males when compared with their wild ancestors Bombyx mandarina seems to have been preserved, while the perception of environmental odorants in both sexes of domesticated silkmoths has been degraded. In females, this physiological impairment was mirrored by a clear reduction in olfactory sensillum numbers. Neurophysiological experiments with hybrids between wild and domesticated silkmoths suggest that the female W sex chromosome, so far known to have the sole function of determining femaleness, might be involved in the detection of environmental odorants. Moreover, the coding of odorants in the brain, which is usually similar among closely related moths, differs strikingly between B. mori and B. mandarina females. These results indicate that domestication has had a strong impact on odour detection and processing in the olfactory model species B. mori.     

更换饲料对家蚕幼虫肠道细菌组成的影响及关键物种与产茧性能的相关性

【目的】本研究探讨使用人工饲料部分替代桑叶饲育后家蚕Bombyx mori幼虫肠道细菌群落的变化情况,并分析人工饲料替代桑叶的不同饲育模式下肠道关键细菌与蛹重和茧层量的相关性,为人工饲料部分替代法饲育家蚕的实际应用提供理论依据。【方法】采用全龄桑叶育(Mul1-5)、1-2龄人工饲料育+3-5龄桑叶育(Art1-2)、1-3龄人工饲料育+4-5龄桑叶育(Art1-3)、1-4龄人工饲料育+5龄桑叶育(Art1-4)和全龄人工饲料育(Art1-5) 5种饲养模式饲养家蚕幼虫,统计5种饲养模式下家蚕的全茧量、茧层量及蛹重;收集不同饲养模式下家蚕5龄幼虫肠道样品,通过高通量测序技术分析其肠道菌群的组成和多样性差异,采用Spearman相关性热图分析肠道细菌与蛹重和茧层量的相关性。【结果】人工饲料与桑叶不同搭配的饲育模式对家蚕茧质有显著的影响,Mul1-5和Art1-5的全茧量最高,二者无显著性差异,Art1-2其次; Mul1-5茧层量最高,Art1-2其次,Art1-5茧层量最低。在不同饲育模式下,家蚕肠道细菌多样性和组成显著不同：在门水平上,Art1-2和Mul1-5的细菌组成最相近,优势菌主要是变形菌门(Proteobacteria)和厚壁菌门(Firmicutes),而Art1-3, Art1-4和Art1-5的细菌组成最相近,变形菌门丰度随着人工饲料饲养时间的增加逐渐增加,厚壁菌门的丰度则呈现相反的趋势;在属水平上,家蚕肠道优势菌属有假单胞菌属Pseudomonas、肠球菌属Enterococcus、鞘脂单胞菌科未分类菌属Sphingomonadaceae unclassified及罗尔斯通菌属Ralstonia等。不同饲育模式下家蚕肠道菌属丰度差异最大的是肠球菌属,Art1-2组中肠球菌属丰度最高(40.9%),随着人工饲料饲养时间的延长,丰度逐渐降低,在Art1-5中仅为0.02%。家蚕肠道菌群大部分关键物种均与茧质呈一定的相关性：柯克斯体属Coxiella与蛹重呈显著正相关,与茧层量呈显著负相关;葡萄球菌属Staphylococcus与蛹重呈显著负相关;肠球菌属与茧层量呈显著正相关。【结论】饲育模式Art1-2最接近于Mul1-5,可为人工饲料部分替代桑叶饲育法饲育家蚕提供参考。人工饲料部分替代桑叶后家蚕肠道菌群结构发生了显著变化,肠球菌属丰度的显著降低及假单胞菌属的显著增加可能与全龄人工饲料养家蚕体质弱有关;一些关键细菌与家蚕蛹重和茧层量存在显著相关性,其影响机制需要进一步研究。     

不同饲料饲育的家蚕幼虫肠道细菌的多样性分析

【目的】为研究饲料对不同家蚕Bombyx mori品种肠道微生物菌群的影响。【方法】以筛选到的家蚕广食性品种GS和普通品种1015为研究对象,收集从收蚁开始分别饲育桑叶(GS. m和C1015. m组)和人工饲料(GS. b组)至4龄盛时期的家蚕肠道样本,采用高通量测序的方法对其肠道微生物16S r DNA的V3-V4区进行测序分析,比较它们之间肠道微生物的差异。【结果】在门水平上,所测家蚕肠道样本的优势菌为厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和变形杆菌门(Proteobacteria);在科水平上,所测样本主要优势菌为明串珠菌科(Leuconostocaceae)、乳酸杆菌科(Lactobacillaceae)、肠杆菌科(Enterobacteriaceae)等;在属水平上,所测样本主要的优势菌为魏斯氏属Weissella、乳酸菌属Lactobacillus、布赫纳氏菌属Buchnera、甲基杆菌属Methylobacterium、叶瘤菌属Phyllobacterium、肠球菌属Enterococcus和脆弱拟杆菌属Bacteroides等。家蚕品种GS经桑叶和人工饲料饲育后,甲基杆菌属Methylobacterium、布赫纳氏菌属Buchnera等菌属仅在桑叶饲育的GS肠道内出现,而魏斯氏菌Weissella、短芽孢杆菌属Brevibacillus等菌属只在人工饲料饲育的GS肠道内出现。同是桑叶饲育的家蚕品种GS和1015,其肠道内相同的优势菌有叶瘤菌属Phyllobacterium、脆弱拟杆菌属Bacteroides、不动细菌属Acinetobacter等。相较于广食性蚕品种GS的肠道菌群,肠球菌属Enterococcus、草螺菌属Herbaspirillum、丝硫菌属Thiothrix等菌属仅在普通蚕品种1015肠道中被检测到。GS. b组家蚕肠道细菌的物种多样性低于GS. m和C1015. m。GS. m肠道中丰度差异显著性最高的菌群为变形菌门(Proteobacteria),GS. b肠道中丰度差异显著性最高的菌群为杆菌纲(Bacilli)和乳杆菌目(Lactobacillales),而C1015. m肠道中丰度差异显著性最高的菌群为粪肠球菌属Enterococcus和肠球菌科(Enterococcaceae)。【结论】经桑叶饲育的不同蚕品种(GS和1015)的肠道微生物比人工饲料饲育的家蚕肠道微生物更趋于一致;经桑叶饲育的广食性家蚕肠道微生物物种多样性较高于经人工饲料饲育的广食性家蚕。     

Nanoparticle-induced morphological transition of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus: a novel method to treat silkworm grasserie disease

Grasserie, a polyorganotrophic disease caused by Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV), accounts for lethal infection to fifth instar silkworm larvae. It was found that nanoparticle (NP)-induced morphological transformation of BmNPV polyhedra could reduce the infectivity of BmNPV both in cell line and in silkworm larvae. Initially, 11 NPs were screened for evaluation of their nature of interaction with polyhedra surface through scanning electron microscopy. Amongst these NPs, lipophilically coated silica nanoparticle (SNPL), alumina nanoparticles in the hexagonal close-packed α structure and aspartate capped gold nanoparticle transformed polyhedra were tested for their infectivity in B. mori cell line using cytopathic effect and plaque reduction assay. SNPL was evaluated for its bio-efficacy in fifth instar silkworm larvae. The study of polyhedra morphology as a function of NP concentration showed severe ‘roughening’ of the polyhedra with replacement of the regular facets by a large number of irregular ones by SNPL, and this caused transition of highly infectious polyhedra into a nearly spherical, non-infectious structure. A moderate polyhedra roughening was observed for alumina NPs, and no roughening was noticed for gold NPs. The morphological changes could be correlated with reduction of virus-induced cytopathic effect and plaque formation, and increased survival rate of SNPL transformed polyhedra infected silkworm larvae to 70.09?±?6.61 % after 96 h. In this group, 61.04?±?8.03 % larvae formed normal cocoons from which moths eclosed, laid eggs and larvae emerged. This study could lead to open up newer pathways for designing nano pharmaceuticals to combat other viral diseases.     

Induction of dauer pupae by fenoxycarb in the silkworm,Bombyx mori

Topical application of fenoxycarb (1 μg per animal) at 129 or 132 h of the fifth instar larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, did not induce morphological abnormalities in the pupal stage, but these animals became dauer (permanent) pupae. This condition of B. mori and the endocrine events leading to permanent pupae are discussed in this work. Application of fenoxycarb at 132 h of the fifth instar elicited a high ecdysteroid titre in the pharate pupal stage and a steadily high ecdysteroid titre in the pupal stage. The fenoxycarb-induced permanent pupae had non-degenerating prothoracic glands that secreted low amounts of ecdysteroid and did not respond to recombinant prothoracicotropic hormone (rPTTH) late in the pupal stage. The Bombyx PTTH titre in the haemolymph, determined by a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay, was lower than that of controls at the time of pupal ecdysis, but higher than controls later in the pupal stage in fenoxycarb-treated animals. After application of fenoxycarb, its haemolymph level, measured by ELISA, reached a peak at pupal ecdysis, then remained low. These results suggest that the fenoxycarb-mediated induction of permanent pupae is only partially a brain-centred phenomenon. It also involves alterations in the hormonal interplay that govern both the initiation of pupal-adult differentiation and changes in the steroidogenic pathway of the prothoracic glands of B. mori.     

Aluminum toxicity related to SOD and expression of presenilin and CREB in Bombyx mori

Aluminum (Al) is an important environmental metal factor that can be potentially associated with pathological changes leading to neurotoxicity. The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an important economic insect and has also been used as a model organism in various research areas. However, the toxicity of Al on silkworm physiology has not been reported. Here, we comprehensively investigate the toxic effects of Al on the silkworm, focusing on its effects on viability and development, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and the expression of presenilin and cAMP response element‐binding protein (CREB) in BmE cells and silkworm larvae. BmE cell viability decreased after treatment with aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) in both dose‐ and time‐dependent manners. When AlCl₃ solution was injected into newly hatched fifth instar larvae, both larval weight gain and survival rate were significantly decreased in a manner correlating with AlCl₃ dose and developmental stage. Furthermore, when BmE cells and silkworm larvae were exposed to AlCl₃, SOD activity decreased significantly relative to the control group, whereas presenilin expression increased more than twofold. Additionally, CREB and phosphorylated CREB (p‐CREB) expression in the heads of fifth instar larvae decreased by 28.0% and 50.0%, respectively. These results indicate that Al inhibits the growth and development of silkworms in vitro and in vivo, altering SOD activity and the expressions of presenilin, CREB, and p‐CREB. Our data suggest that B. mori can serve as a model animal for studying Al‐induced neurotoxicity or neurodegeneration.     

Comparative studies on the rDNA of the silkworm,Bombyx mori and its presumed ancestor

• 1.1. The transcribed region of Bombyx mandarina rDNA was identical to that of B. mori rDNA when the restriction maps and partial nucleotide sequences were compared. The result supports the assumption that Bombyx mandarina is an ancestor of Bombyx mori and that the two were subdivided very recently.
• 2.2. Non-transcribed spacer (NTS) of four clones derived from the two insects was slightly different from one another, which seemed to be due to the difference in the number of repeated sequences distributed in the spacer.
• 3.3. The five clones from B. mandarina had the type I insertion sequence (IS) homologous to that in Bombyx mori 28S rDNA. There was micro-heterogeneity in the structure of IS.

     

Effects of egt gene transfer on the development of Bombyx mori

This study investigated the effects of gain of ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase (EGT) gene function mutation on the development of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. A novel piggyBac-derived plasmid containing the egt gene from B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) driven by a heat-shock protein (hsp) 23.7 promoter, with a neomycin-resistance gene (neo) controlled by the BmNPV ie-1 promoter and a green fluorescent protein gene (gfp) under the control of the B. mori actin 3 (A3) promoter was constructed. The vector was transferred into silkworm eggs by sperm-mediated gene transfer. Transgenic silkworms were produced after screening for neo and gfp genes and gene transfer was verified by polymerase chain reaction, dot-blot hybridization and western blotting. The hatching rate of G1 generation silkworm eggs was about 60% lower than that of normal silkworm eggs. The duration of the G1 generation larval period was extended, and the G2 generation pupal stage lasted four days longer than that in non-transgenic silkworms. The ecdysone blood level in G2 silkworms in the third instar molting stage was reduced by up to 90%. These results show that EGT suppressed transgenic silkworm molting, and that egt expression in egt-transgenic silkworms resulted in arrest of metamorphosis from pupae to moths.     

Study of compensatory growth based on different nutrition conditions of Bombyx mori

Organisms achieve compensatory growth after a period of nutrient restriction followed by recovering the nutrient status. However, the underlying mechanisms associated with such growth acceleration remain unclear. The silkworm Bombyx mori is a lepidopteran model insect. This study aimed to investigate the physiological characteristics and the underlying mechanisms in B. mori fed on mulberry leaves (MG), artificial diet (AG), and artificial diet + mulberry leaves (AG-MG), respectively. Silkworms in AG-MG which fed on artificial diet from 1st to 3rd instars followed by feeding on mulberry leaves from 4th to 5th instars exhibited a higher weight gain rate than that in MG and AG, indicating that compensatory growth occurred as a result of the switch in the silkworm food regime. Trypsin and lipase activities of silkworms in AG-MG were shown to be up-regulated at 72 h after changing food. Digital gene expression profiling (DGE) analysis revealed that genes related to metabolism and development in silkworm midguts were differentially expressed. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results showed that the expression levels of IIS/PI3K-AKT pathway genes including INR, IRS, AKT, PI3K60 and PI3K110 of silkworms in AG were down-regulated compared with that in MG at 0 h. Whereas AKT, PI3K and PI3K60 of silkworms were significantly increased by 1.68-, 1.49-, 1.67-fold, respectively, at 72 h after switched to mulberry leaves than the same instar fed on artificial diet. PDK’s expression of silkworms in AG was higher than that in other two groups at each timepoint. Compared with MG and AG, PTEN and IRS were down-regulated at 48 and 72 h in AG-MG. Collectively, these results indicate that compensatory growth in B. mori is regulated by IIS/PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.     

The complete mitogenome and phylogenetic analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bombyx mandarina</Emphasis> strain Qingzhou

The complete nucleotide sequence of the mitogenome of Bombyx mandarina strain Qingzhou was determined. The circular genome is 15,717 bp long and has the typical gene organization and order of lepidopteran mitogenomes. All protein-coding sequences are initiated with a typical ATN codon, except the COI gene, which has a 4-bp TTAG putative initiator codon. Eleven of the 13 protein-coding gene have a complete termination codon (all TAA), but the remaining two genes terminate with incomplete codons. All transfer RNAs (tRNAs) have a clover-leaf structure typical of the mitochondrial tRNAs, and some of them have a mismatch in the four-stem-and-loop structure. The length of the A + T rich region of B. mandarina strain Qingzhou is 495 bp, shorter than that of B. mandarina strain Tsukuba (747 bp) but similar to that of Bombyx mori. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole mitochondrial genome sequences of the available sequenced species (B. mori strains C-108, Aojuku, Backokjam, and Xiafang, B. mandarina strains Tsukuba, Ankang, and Qingzhou, and Antheraea pernyi) shows the origin of the domesticated silkmoth B. mori to be the Chinese B. mandarina. Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogene sequences were detected in the nuclear genome of B. mori with the MEGA BLAST search program. A phylogenetic analysis of these nuclear mitochondrial pseudogene sequences suggests that B. mori was domesticated independently in different areas and periods.     

The Effect of W Chromosome Origin on Sex-Chromosome Pairing in ZZWW Tetraploid Females of the Domesticated Silkworm, Bombyx Mori, and the Congenic Wild Silkworm, Bombyx Mandarina

To analyze the degree of pairing of the Z and W chromosomes in ZZWW tetraploid female silkworms that have the W chromosomes of the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, and those of the wild silkworm, Bombyx mandarina, we induced two types of ZZWW tetraploid female silkworms (Cr4n, Wr4n) through cold treatment of the eggs. The Wr4n female is congenic to the Cr4n female for W chromosomes; namely, the W chromosomes of the Wr4n female are derived from those of B. mandarina. Each of the sex ratios (/) in filial triploids from the Cr4n females was shown to be in the range of 3.9–5.3 (4.6 as an average of six cases). On the other hand, each of the sex ratios (/) in filial triploids from the Wr4n females was shown to be in the range of 6.2–9.0 (6.9 as an average of nine cases). The results of a t-test indicated that the difference in sex ratios in the two groups is highly significant (at the 0.1% level). These results suggest that, in the meiosis of the ZZWW tetraploid female, the frequency of pairing of the W chromosome of B. mandarina and the Z chromosome of B. mori is lower than that of the pairing of the W and Z chromosomes of B. mori. Furthermore, the t-test results are evidence that the W chromosomes have undergone significant evolutional change.     

Bombyx mori cathepsin D expression is induced by high temperature and H2O2 exposure

Cathepsin D is involved in the metamorphosis of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Here, we show the expression profile of B. mori cathepsin D (BmCatD) in the fat body during exposure to stressors, such as high temperature and H₂O₂. Exposure of larvae in the fifth instar stage to high temperature (28 °C) led to accelerated metamorphosis and shortened larval stage compared to control larvae grown at 23 °C. Concomitantly, the expression level of BmCatD mRNA was greatly increased during exposure to high temperature. We also detected significantly elevated H₂O₂ levels in the hemolymph of larvae treated with high temperature. To confirm that oxidative stress induces BmCatD expression, B. mori larvae were injected with H₂O₂. As predicted, we observed increased expression of BmCatD following H₂O₂ exposure. Based on these results, we conclude that BmCatD expression is induced by high temperature and H₂O₂ exposure and that this stress-induced BmCatD expression leads to early metamorphosis.