Geographic and seasonal variation of culturable bacteria associated with the diseased silkworm (<i>Bombyx mori</i>).

ABSTRACT: The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, is critically impacted by bacterial pathogens, yet the environmental and ecological drivers of their spatiotemporal dynamics remain poorly defined. In this study, 514 bacterial strains were isolated from diseased and healthy silkworm larvae across major sericultural regions in China. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multi-tier pathogenicity assays, 51 isolates were identified as potential novel insect pathogens. Fulfilling Koch's postulates via oral infection tests, the pathogenicity of nine strains belonging to the genera Raoultella, Stenotrophomonas, and Citrobacter were confirmed, while the remaining isolates are considered putative pathogens. All isolates were classified into 33 genera within the phyla Proteobacteria, Fir

SUBMITTER: Zhou H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12830223 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature