A juvenile hormone transcription factor Bmdimm-fibroin H chain pathway is involved in the synthesis of silk protein in silkworm, Bombyx mori.

ABSTRACT: The genes responsible for silk biosynthesis are switched on and off at particular times in the silk glands of Bombyx mori. This switch appears to be under the control of endogenous and exogenous hormones. However, the molecular mechanisms by which silk protein synthesis is regulated by the juvenile hormone (JH) are largely unknown. Here, we report a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Bmdimm, its silk gland-specific expression, and its direct involvement in the regulation of fibroin H-chain (fib-H) by binding to an E-box (CAAATG) element of the fib-H gene promoter. Far-Western blots, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and co-immunoprecipitation assays revealed that Bmdimm protein interacted with another basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, Bmsage. Immunostaining revealed

SUBMITTER: Zhao XM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4294524 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature