Transcriptional profiling of midgut immunity response and degeneration in the wandering silkworm, Bombyx mori.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lepidoptera insects have a novel development process comprising several metamorphic stages during their life cycle compared with vertebrate animals. Unlike most Lepidoptera insects that live on nectar during the adult stage, the Bombyx mori silkworm adults do not eat anything and die after egg-laying. In addition, the midguts of Lepidoptera insects produce antimicrobial proteins during the wandering stage when the larval tissues undergo numerous changes. The exact mechanisms responsible for these phenomena remain unclear.

Principal findings

We used the silkworm as a model and performed genome-wide transcriptional profiling of the midgut between the feeding stage and the wandering stage. Many genes concerned with metabolism, digestion, and ion and small molecule tr

SUBMITTER: Xu Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3427160 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature