A dense linkage map was constructed for the silkworm, Bombyx mori, containing 1018 genetic markers on all 27 autosomes and the Z chromosome. Most of the markers, covering approximately 2000 cM, were randomly amplified polymorphic DNAs amplified with primer-pairs in combinations of 140 commercially available decanucleotides. In addition, eight known genes and five visible mutations were mapped. ...

Bacillus bombysepticus is a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium. Here, we announce the first complete genome sequence of this organism isolated from the cadavers of silkworm larvae that had been sick. The genome contains a single circular chromosome and a circular plasmid. Analyses of the B. bombysepticus genome will provide insights into its pathomechanisms and biology.

Morphological diversity of leg appendages is one of the hallmarks of developmental evolution. Limbs in insects may develop either from their embryonic prototypes or from imaginal discs harbored inside the larva. Bombyx mori (B. mori), a Lepidopteran insect, develops adult wings from larval wing imaginal discs. However, it has been debated whether the adult legs of B. mori arise from imaginal di...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key players in host-pathogen interaction. Recently, many virus-encoded miRNAs have been identified from different mammalian species. However, the large family of invertebrate viruses of Baculoviridae, which infects diverse species of beneficial insects and agriculture pests, has hardly been investigated for elucidating the role of miRNAs in host-pathogen inter...

The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori serves as an ideal representative of lepidopteran species for a variety of scientific studies. As a result, databases have been created to organize information pertaining to the silkworm genome that is subject to constant updating. Of these, four main databases are important for store nucleotide information in the form of genomic data, ESTs and microsateli...

ns1 gene of Bombyx mori bidensovirus (BmBDV) consisted of 951 nucleotides encoding a deduced 316-amino aicd protein. In this study, the gene was cloned and fused in frame with a N-terminal 6×His tag under control of the polyhedrin promoter, which was transposed into the mini-attTn7 locus of a modified baculovirus vector. Transfection of Sf-9 cells with the resulting recombinant DNA was performe...

A mutant of Bombyx mori has wings with few scales and is named scaleless. We investigated the morphology of this mutant and found that it had many fewer wing scales than the corresponding wild type (WT) silkworm and that the remaining scales were smaller in shape with fewer furcations. Reciprocal transplantation of wing discs between scaleless and WT revealed that the WT wing disc could develop...

Oral supplementation with potassium bromide (10, 20 and 40 μg/ml) to fifth instar larvae of CSR2, CSR4 and CSR2xCSR4 crossbreed races of the silkworm, Bombyx mori resulted in a significant increase in the fat body glycogen in all the treated groups and in all the three races of the silkworm, B. mori. The fat body protein content was increased with 20 and 40 μg/ml treated groups in CSR2 and CSR4...

Bombyxin, previously referred to as 4K-prothoracicotropic hormone, is a brain peptide of the silkmoth Bombyx mori, the amino acid sequence of which shows considerable homology with vertebrate insulin family peptides. Two independent clones have been isolated from a Bombyx larval brain cDNA library by using a synthetic oligonucleotide probe, one with the complete coding region for preprobombyxin...

Storage proteins are the major protein synthesized in the fat body, released into hemolymph and re-sequestered into the fat body before pupation in most insect species. Storage proteins are important amino acid and nutrition resources during the non-feeding pupal period and play essential roles for the metamorphosis and oogenesis of insects. The sequestration of storage protein is a selective, ...