Autophagy studies in Bombyx mori

Autophagy, which is well conserved from yeast to mammals, plays essential roles in development and diseases. Using the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, as a model insect, several reports on autophagy have been made recently. Autophagic features are observed in the midgut and fat body during the larval-pupal transition as well as the silk gland and ovarian nurse cells during the pupal stage. There are 14 autophagy related (Atg) genes, including at least two transcript variants of Atg1, predicated in Bombyx. Expression of most Atg genes is consistent with the autophagy process in the fat body during the larval-pupal transition, and reduction of Atg1 expression by RNAi blocks this process. The molting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), and starvation induce autophagy in the fat body by upregulating Atg gene expression and blocking the PI3K-TORC1 pathway. Meanwhile, autophagy precedes apoptosis in the midgut and other larval tissues during the larval-pupal transition, while the detailed mechanism is not illustrated yet. We assume that there are at least four future directions about autophagy studies in Bombyx during the next years: (1) physiological functions of autophagy; (2) identification of new components involved in the autophagy process; (3) detailed molecular mechanism of autophagosome formation; (4) functional relationship between autophagy and apoptosis.