biostudies-literatureUnknown7(5)Iizuka TSawa-J is a polyphagous silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) strain that eats various plant leaves that normal silkworms do not. The feeding preference behavior of Sawa-J is controlled by one major recessive gene(s) on the polyphagous (pph) locus, and several minor genes; moreover, its deterrent cells possess low sensitivity to some bitter substances including salicin. To clarify whether taste sensitivity is controlled by the pph locus, we conducted a genetic analysis of the electrophysiological characteristics of the taste response using the polyphagous strain Sawa-J·lem, in which pph is linked to the visible larval marker lemon (lem) on the third chromosome, and the normal strain Daiankyo, in which the wild-type gene of pph (+(pph)) is marked with Zebra (Ze). Maxillary taste neurons of the two straPloS onee37549https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3359296biostudies-literatureGenetic analysis of the electrophysiological response to salicin, a bitter substance, in a polyphagous strain of the silkworm Bombyx mori.PMC3359296Mase KIizuka TAsaoka KTamura TSezutsu HOkada EfalseGenetic analysis of the electrophysiological response to salicin, a bitter substance, in a polyphagous strain of the silkworm Bombyx mori.Sawa-J is a polyphagous silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) strain that eats various plant leaves that normal silkworms do not. The feeding preference behavior of Sawa-J is controlled by one major recessive gene(s) on the polyphagous (pph) locus, and several minor genes; moreover, its deterrent cells possess low sensitivity to some bitter substances including salicin. To clarify whether taste sensitivity is controlled by the pph locus, we conducted a genetic analysis of the electrophysiological characteristics of the taste response using the polyphagous strain Sawa-J·lem, in which pph is linked to the visible larval marker lemon (lem) on the third chromosome, and the normal strain Daiankyo, in which the wild-type gene of pph (+(pph)) is marked with Zebra (Ze). Maxillary taste neurons of the two stra2012-01-01T00:00:00Z20122025-04-04T14:31:54.079Z2019-03-26T23:13:16ZS-EPMC33592962264953710.1371/journal.pone.0037549