MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key players in host-pathogen interaction. Recently, many virus-encoded miRNAs have been identified from different mammalian species. However, the large family of invertebrate viruses of Baculoviridae, which infects diverse species of beneficial insects and agriculture pests, has hardly been investigated for elucidating the role of miRNAs in host-pathogen inter...

The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori serves as an ideal representative of lepidopteran species for a variety of scientific studies. As a result, databases have been created to organize information pertaining to the silkworm genome that is subject to constant updating. Of these, four main databases are important for store nucleotide information in the form of genomic data, ESTs and microsateli...

A mutant of Bombyx mori has wings with few scales and is named scaleless. We investigated the morphology of this mutant and found that it had many fewer wing scales than the corresponding wild type (WT) silkworm and that the remaining scales were smaller in shape with fewer furcations. Reciprocal transplantation of wing discs between scaleless and WT revealed that the WT wing disc could develop...

Oral supplementation with potassium bromide (10, 20 and 40 μg/ml) to fifth instar larvae of CSR2, CSR4 and CSR2xCSR4 crossbreed races of the silkworm, Bombyx mori resulted in a significant increase in the fat body glycogen in all the treated groups and in all the three races of the silkworm, B. mori. The fat body protein content was increased with 20 and 40 μg/ml treated groups in CSR2 and CSR4...

We analyzed the presence of chemical compounds from the head space of Bombyx mori which are attracted / recognized and entrapped by the head proteins upon biting of mulberry leaves through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The results of GC-MS showed that 28 chemical compounds were present in the head space of B. mori. Among this 28 compounds phenol, 2, 4-bis(1,1dimethyleth...

The silkworm Bombyx mori L. (B. mori) has a significant impact on the economy by producing more than 80% of the globally produced raw silk. The exposure of silkworm to pesticides may cause adverse effects on B. mori, such as a reduction in the production and quality of silk. This study aims to assay the effect of venom from the jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai on growth, cuticle and acetylcholinest...

The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori Linn., a lepidopteran molecular model and an important economic insect that are emerging as an ideal molecular genetic resource for solving a broad range of biological problems. The silkworm, B. mori produces massive amount of silk proteins during the final stage of larval development. These proteins are stored in the middle silk gland and they are dischar...

The GTPase-associated center in 23/28 S rRNA is one of the most conserved functional domains throughout all organisms. We detected a unique sequence of this domain in Bombyx mori species in which the bases at positions 1094 and 1098 (numbering from Escherichia coli 23 S rRNA) are C and G instead of the otherwise universally conserved bases U and A, respectively. These changes were also observed...

In Bombyx mori (B. mori), Fem piRNA originates from the W chromosome and is responsible for femaleness. The Fem piRNA-PIWI complex targets and cleaves mRNAs transcribed from the Masc gene. Masc encodes a novel CCCH type zinc-finger protein and is required for male-specific splicing of B. mori doublesex (Bmdsx) transcripts. In the present study, several silkworm strains carrying a transgene, whi...

Growth and development of silk worm Bombyx mori L. and cocoon crop are greatly influenced by yield and nutritional quality of mulberry leaf used as feed. The nutritional status of different mulberry varieties is ascertained by its biochemical constituents. Mulberry is rich sources of protein, carbohydrate, carotenoids, lipids, ascorbic acid, anthocyanins etc Hence, five mulberry varieties viz.,...