Thermal transport in micro/nano materials is very critical, not only because the thermal property may have important influence on the performance of the materials, but also because the change of this property can reflect the inner structure change. Due to the complicated structure and small scale, the thermal properties of biomaterials, such as silkworm silk, spider silk and human head hair, ar...

Samia cynthia ricini (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is an important commercial silk-producing insect; however, in contrast to the silkworm, mulberry leaves are toxic to this insect because the leaves contain the component 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ). A transcriptomic analysis of eri-silkworm haemolymph was conducted to examine the genes related to different metabolic pathways and to elucidate the mole...

We previously identified a pumilio gene in silkworm (Bombyx mori L.), designated BmPUM, which was specifically expressed in the ovary and testis. To further characterize this gene's involvement in silkworm development, we have determined the spatiotemporal expression pattern of BmPUM during all embryonic stages. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis revealed that BmPUM was expre...

The therapeutic effect of dye compounds with antibacterial activity was evaluated in a silkworm model of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Among 13 chromogenic agents that show antibacterial activity against S. aureus (MIC = 0.02 to 19 μg/mL), rifampicin had a therapeutic effect. The ED(50) value in the silkworm model was consistent with that in a murine model. Other 12 dyes did not increase sur...

Background: ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are transmembrane proteins that utilize the energy of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding and hydrolysis to transport various substrates across extra and intracellular membranes, including metabolic products, lipids and sterols, and drugs. They play important roles in various processes of life, especially in drug resistance, metabolism and de...

To develop feline and canine interferons as medicine for companion animal, silkworm-baculovirus expression system was established as a manufacturing technology. Thus produced interferons were successfully cleared for a sale in commercial market. For expression of feline interferon in the silkworm, recombinant Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) was constructed carrying feline interferon cD...

The silk industry was historically the most important industrial sector from Trás-os-Montes, with no competition until the 19 century. For centuries, it was the economic activity most open to the outside and the first to yield to the new capitalist mentality. It was, undoubtedly, the productive activity that contributed most to the national and international acknowledgment of the region and its...

The effect of temperature on the voltinism of the silkworm, Bombyx rnori, was discovered by Watanabe (1918) over 45 years ago. This followed the rinding of the important role of photoperiod during the incubation period of silkworm eggs (Kogure, 1933). In brief, whether diapause or non-diapause eggs are laid depends on temperature and light experienced by the mother during her embryonic life. In...