Abstract Lignin content and its molecular structure influence various wood characteristics. In this study, the anatomical physicochemical properties of derived from a naturally occurring mulberry mutant deficient in cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), key enzyme lignin biosynthesis, were analyzed using conventional staining assays on stem sections, length width measurements xylem fiber cells,...

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have high immune system-stimulating activity and are considered beneficial for human health as probiotics in the gut. The innate immune system is highly conserved between mammals and insects. Microbe-associated molecular patterns (e.g., peptidoglycan and β-glucan) induce cytokine maturation, which, in silkworm larvae, leads to muscle contraction. The purpose of this s...

Silk fibroin (SF) is a typical fibrous protein that is secreted by silkworms and spiders. It has been used in a variety of areas, and especially for tissue-engineering scaffolds, due to its sound processability, mechanical properties, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. With respect to gelation, the SF gelation time is long in aqueous solutions, so a novel approach is needed to shorten this...

Sericulture or silk farming is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk. The mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, is a domesticated and monophagous insect which feeds only on the leaves of mulberry for its nutrition. Thiadiazoles are heterocyclic compounds containing oxygen and nitrogen. 1, 3, 4, thiadiazoles are extensively studied and are known to play diverse biological activities....

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play a crucial role in transposon silencing in animal germ cells. In piRNA biogenesis, single-stranded piRNA intermediates are loaded into PIWI-clade proteins and cleaved by Zucchini/MitoPLD, yielding precursor piRNAs (pre-piRNAs). Pre-piRNAs that are longer than the mature piRNA length are then trimmed at their 3' ends. Although recent studies implicated the Tudo...