Search

Mulberry is a fast growing deciduous plant found in wide variety of climatic, topographical and soil conditions, and is widely distributed from temperate to subtropical regions. Due to presence of valuable phytochemical constituents, mulberry as a whole plant has been utilized as a functional food since long time. Mulberry fruits are difficult to preserve as they have relatively high water content. Therefore for proper utilization, different value-added products like syrups, squashes, teas, pestil sand köme, pekmez (turkuish by-products), yogurts, jams, jellies, wines, vinegar, breads, biscuits, parathas, and many more are made. In overseas, these value-added products are commercially sold and easily available, though in India, this versatile medicinal plant is still missing its identity at commercial and industrial scale. Leaves of mulberry are economically viable due to their important role in the sericulture industry since ancient times. Mulberries or its extracts exhibit excellent anti-microbial, anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer effects and is used to combat different acute and chronic diseases. Different parts of Morus species like fruits, leaves, twigs, and bark exhibit strong anti-tyrosinase inhibition activity that makes it a suitable candidate in cosmetic industries as a whitening agent. The current review provides a comprehensive discussion concerning the phytochemical constituents, functionality and nutraceutical potential of mulberry and as a common ingredient in various cosmetic products.

Beauveria bassiana is a harmful pathogen to the economically important insect silkworm, always causes serious disease to the silkworm, which results in great losses to the sericulture industry. In order to explore the silkworm (Bombyx mori) response to B. bassiana infection, differential proteomes of the silkworm responsive to B. bassiana infection were identified with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) at the different stage of the 3rd instar silkworm larvae. Among the 5040 proteins identified with confidence level of ≥95 %, total 937 proteins were differentially expressed, of which 488 proteins were up-regulated and 449 proteins were down-regulated. 23, 15, 250, 649 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were reliably quantified by iTRAQ analysis in the B. bassiana infected larvae at 18, 24, 36, 48 h post infection (hpi) respectively. Based on GO annotations, 6, 4, 128, 316 DEPs were involved in biological processes, 12, 5, 143, 376 DEPs were involved in molecular functions, and 6, 3, 108, 256 DEPs were involved in cell components at 18, 24, 36, 48 hpi respectively. KEGG pathway analysis displayed that 18, 12, 210, 548 DEPs separately participated in 63, 35, 201, 264 signal transduction pathways at different time of infection, and moreover a higher proportion of DEPs involved in metabolic pathways. The cluster analysis on the DEPs of different infection stages distinguished a co-regulated DEP, lysozyme precursor, which was up-regulated at both the mRNA level and the protein level, indicating that the lysozyme protein kept playing an important role in defending the silkworm against B. bassiana infection. This was the first report using an iTRAQ approach to analyze proteomes of the whole silkworm against B. bassiana infection, which contributes to better understanding the defense mechanisms of silkworm to B. bassiana infection and provides important experimental data for the identification of key factors involved in the interaction between the pathogenic fungus and its host.

The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an economically important insect that majorly contributes in financially viable sericulture industry. The baculovirus, Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) is a deadly virus that infects B. mori and inflicts heavy loss to silk production by causing high mortality of silkworms. A number of studies have been done to identify antiviral genes and pathways against BmNPV infection in B. mori. Toll-pathway is a well-known immune pathway responsible for combating bacterial and fungal infections in silkworm. However, the role of Toll-receptors in inhibiting BmNPV has not been explored. In the present study, we have attempted to examine the role of Toll-receptors in inhibiting BmNPV proliferation in B. mori larvae. The effect of Toll-receptors on viral proliferation was determined by quantifying viral DNA and counting viral occlusion bodies upon RNA interference-mediated knockdown of Toll-receptors in B. mori larvae. Knockdown of BmToll, BmToll-6, BmToll-7, BmToll-8 and BmToll-9 led to higher accumulation of BmNPV. Further, interplay between Toll-receptors and the antimicrobial proteins of B. mori, called seroins were studied using RNA interference. As a result, we found a downregulation of Seroin1 transcript level upon knockdown of BmToll, BmToll-7, BmToll-8, BmToll-10, BmToll-11 and BmToLK2, whereas Seroin2 expression was found to decrease only upon BmToll-7 knockdown. Moreover, knockdown of seroins did not result in clearly interpretable expression patterns of Toll-receptors. These results suggest the involvement of B. mori Toll-pathway in defense against BmNPV infection and provides a new insights into the antiviral defense mechanism of B. mori.

Production performance of silkworm (Bombyx mori L., 1758) play a pivotal role in sericulture industry and good quality cocoon represents the economic driver of farms. Silkworms are monophagus insects and differences between cocoon characteristics may depend both on mulberry tree leaves quality as well as on genetic selection of hybrid lines. While a huge work was carried out to identify the best feeding sources to optimize yields, genetic types of silkworms with desirable production and economic traits were studied to a limited extent to date. This experimental feeding trial was carried out using a commercial variety of mulberry tree leaves (Morus alba var. Ichinose) to feed a total of 1600 silkworms in 4 replicates, allotted into 32 box consisting of 50 larvae each. Feed consumption, manure production and feed conversion ratios were monitored throughout the experimental period across five instars of 8 hybrid lines (200 larvae each). Efficiency, Profitability and Eco-compatibility were identified as criteria to evaluate the best performing hybrid lines: in descending order hybrids 32 × 31, 153 × 154 and 104 × 103 have appeared the best in terms of feed conversion ratio to larva weight gain and to cocoon weight, shell to cocoon ratio and wet manure per g of dry matter intake per silkworm. Our results point to promising outcomes as to animal selection to improve yields of silk production at farm level. Sustainable and modern sericulture industry can therefore point to raise genetically selected hybrid lines of silkworms together with opportune feeding practices, to optimize feed conversions and rationalize manure in farms.

Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) is the most damaging virus for the production of silkworm cocoons. Antivirus research continues to be an important aspect of the silkworm industry. Two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry have been applied for analyzing the midgut proteome of BmNPV-infected silkworms. In recent years, the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) method has frequently been used when studying interaction between BmNPV and Bombyx mori, and useful information has been obtained. In this study, midgut proteins of BmNPV-infected silkworms were extracted from silkworm variety NIL·LVR with anti-BmNPV activity at 48 h, and proteome analysis was carried out using the label-free method. 2196 proteins were identified. Among them, there were 85 differentially expressed proteins, 45 upregulated proteins (immune-activated proteins), 28 downregulated proteins, and six proteins were specific for the BmNPV group and another six specific for control group. Many of the immune-activated proteins have been reported to have innate immune functions, and the downregulated proteins are involved in apoptosis or abnormal cell viability. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for host defense against BmNPV infection by both innate immunity and apoptosis, revealing the potential function of the midgut after oral infection of BmNPV in Bombyx mori. Significance Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) has a great impact on the sericulture industry. However, the mechanism of resistance to BmNPV has not been fully elucidated. The silkworm midgut is not only the major organ for food digestion and nutrient absorption but also an immune organ serving as the first line of defense against microbial invasion and proliferation. Here we combined label-free quantitative proteomic, bioinformatics, quantitative real-time PCR and SDS-PAGE analyses and found that BmNPV invasion causes complex protein alterations in the larval midgut of NIL·LVR with anti-BmNPV activity. The results showed that many upregulated differentially expressed proteins have been reported to have innate immune functions and the downregulation proteins are involved in apoptosis or abnormal cell viability. These findings provide evidence for host defense against BmNPV infection by both innate immunity and apoptosis, and reveals the potential function of the midgut after infection of BmNPV in Bombyx mori.

Bombyx mori bidensovirus (BmBDV) causes fatal flacherie disease leading to severe economic losses in sericultures. The BmDNV-Z genome contains two single-stranded DNA molecules, VD1 and VD2. For generating silkworm lines with antiviral properties, two transgenic RNA interference (RNAi) vectors were constructed. Open reading frames (ORFs) 1-4 of VD1 were knockdown by vector pb-BDV1 while ORF1a, ORF1b, and ORF3 of VD2 were knockdown by vector pb-BDV2. Transgenic silkworm lines BDV1-I and BDV2-I were generated via RNAi microinjection. Mortality rates of BDV1-I and BDV2-I were reduced by 45% and 39%, respectively, and quantitative PCR showed that VD1 and VD2 contents in BDV1-I and BDV2-I were significantly lower than in the non-transgenic line. However, economic traits showed no obvious differences. Thus, knockdown of multiple BmDNV-Z genes provides strong resistance to BDV1-I and BDV2-I lines, and these can be used in sericulture without hampering silk production.

An identification method of near infrared spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis and a high-speed automated sorting system for living silkworm chrysalis were developed. First, the factors affecting sex discrimination were examined using static spectra, including the varieties and positions of pupae. Second, modeling using dynamic spectra was investigated. The dynamic spectra contain much more noise than that of static spectra. The significant noise dominated by optical path difference (OPD) has a strong impact on the identification of male and female pupae. High-speed sex discrimination of living silkworm pupae was successfully realized by combining soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and a preprocessing method involving angle spectra. The results indicated that this method achieved a correct identification rate of 98.0%. Finally, various varieties of living silkworm pupae were sorted with respect to sex using the high-speed sorting device. The sorting rate exceeded 7.7 pupae per second and the error rate could be controlled within 2.5%. The device has been applied successfully to sort living silkworm pupae about 1.2 tons per day in different seasons and regions, and can exert a significant effect on the development of modern sericulture.

The mulberry psyllid Anomoneura mori Schwarz is reported for the first time from Taiwan. This species is associated with the mulberry tree and is a pest of sericulture. Adults and larvae are described and illustrated for identification. The topic of invasive species is further discussed.

To accelerate the mulberry breeding program and examine the genome size and ploidy levels of 27 mulberry accessions of promising lines in Taiwan, nuclei suspensions were prepared from unfolded young leaves and analyzed by a flow cytometer. The genome size of each accession was estimated by referring to the standard genome size of chicken erythrocyte nuclei (CEN, 2.5 pg). Our results indicated that 25 among 27 investigated accessions in M. bombycis, M. alba, M. latifolia, M. australis, M. formosnensis, and M. atropurpurea are diploids with genome sizes ranging from 0.61 to 0.71 pg. ‘Elongated mulberry No. 1’ (M. laevigata) with a genome size of 1.06 pg is a triploid. Two populations were identified in the accession ‘67C001’ (M. australis Poir.) with a genome size of either 0.63 pg or 0.98 pg. Due to their similarity in appearance, we suspected that they are probably from the same origin, thus warranting further investigations. Several important vegetative characters of diploids and triploids have been estimated, including leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, petiole width, leaf thickness, and internode length, to document their correlation using the unpaired t-test. Subsequently, the statistical relationship between diploid and triploid species on some of these important characters, including leaf width, petiole width and internode length, was determined through binary regression analysis. We suggested that the internode length could provide a beneficial index to distinguish individuals with different ploidy levels in the field. Results of this study provide useful information to clarify the taxonomy of Morus and improve breeding programs aiming to advance horticulture and sericulture.

Heat shock causes a serious harm to organisms by accelerating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pyrococcus furiosus superoxide reductase (PfSOR) is an enzyme that efficiently detoxifies ROS. In order to generate a silkworm strain with high heat tolerance for sericulture, we synthesized an artificial DNA sequence encoding PfSOR based on the codon bias of Bombyx mori. PfSOR was successfully overexpressed in transgenic silkworm (named A4SOR) and BmE cells, as determined by RT-PCR and western blot analyses. An SOR activity assay confirmed that the expressed enzyme was functional in A4SOR. After exposure to a temperature of 35 °C for 44 h, the mortality rate was about 30% lower in transgenic A4SOR than in non-transgenic silkworms. Moreover, transgene expression had no apparent effect on economic characteristics of silkworms. The heat tolerance of silkworm was thus enhanced by expressing an archaeal SOR; this can be useful for sericulture in regions where the average temperature exceeds the optimal environmental temperature for B. mori of 25 °C.

"Pe ' brine" is a devastating disease of Bombyx mori silkworms that is highly contagious and can completely destroy an entire crop of silkworms and is thus a serious threat for the viability and profitability of sericulture. The disease is most commonly attributed to microsporidians of the genus Nosema, which are obligate intracellular parasites that are transmitted through spores. Nosema infections in silkworms are diagnosed primarily through light microscopy, which is labour intensive and less reliable, sensitive, and specific than PCR-based techniques. Here, we present the development and optimization of a new TaqMan based assay targeting the beta-tubulin gene in the pe ' brine disease causing agent Nosema bombycis in silkworms. The assay displayed excellent quantification linearity over multiple orders of magnitude of target amounts and a limit of detection (LOD) of 6.9 x 102 copies of target per reaction. The method is highly specific to N. bombycis with no cross-reactivity to other Nosema species commonly infecting wild silkworms. This specificity was due to three nucleotides in the probe-binding region unique to N. bombycis. The assay demonstrated a high reliability with a Coefficient of variation (CV)

Mulberry leaves ( Morus alba var. Buriram 60) at the positions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were harvested from 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th–6th and 7th–8th below the primordia, respectively; to evaluate on in vitro digestibility of carbohydrate (IVCD) and protein (IVPD) by using the crude enzyme extract from whole body of 3rd to 5th instar larva of mulberry silkworm ( Bombyx mori ). The crude enzymes were extracted from the whole body of larva against the reviewed data of gut extract from the previous studies. The optimal temperature and pH was similar between whole body and gut extracts, indicating the possible use of whole body for in vitro digestibility study. There was no statistical interaction between leaf position and developmental stage of larva. In all stages of larva, the leaf positions 2 and 3 were higher in IVCD than in the other positions ( p p p p in vitro screening of the leaf supports the development of an artificial mulberry leaf-based diet for B. mori used in sericulture.

s The mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, has provided valuable fabrics and foods to humans for > 5000 years. We invented the protocol for processing mature silkworms, which contain various functional substances, into edible steamed and freeze-dried mature silkworm powders (SMSPs). However, previously reported technique could not create powders smaller than 0.1 mm and had problems with loss of product due to large SMSP particles sticking to hammer mill machines during the pulverizing process. To resolve these problems, we invented a new pulverization protocol that could create particle sizes smaller than 0.01 mm. Reduced particle sizes in SMSPs offered several advantages: increased nutrient contents in the nutritional aspect and extended life expectancy and enhanced locomotor activity in the pharmacological aspect. In addition, four SMSPs were enriched with flavonoids, poly-phenols, and vitamins that are known to act as oxidative stress inhibitors in cells and tissues. Nutrient and phytochemical composition analysis results suggested that this is why SMSPs extended healthspans and inhibited onset of Parkinson's disease. Although most nutrient and phytochemical compositions among the four SMSPs were comparable, certain nutrients and chemicals were significantly higher in certain SMSPs. Therefore, further research using these four SMSPs will identify the specific health-promoting effects of each SMSP, resulting in the further development of sericulture and entomology.

Bombyx mori bidensiovirus (BmBDV) is a species of Bidensovirus that has been was placed into a new genus within the new family Bidnaviridae by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. BmBDV causes fatal flacherie disease in silkworms, which causes large losses to the sericulture industry. BmBDV contains two sets of complementary linear single-stranded DNAs of approximately 6.5 kb (viral DNA 1, VD1) and 6.0 kb (viral DNA 2, VD2). VD1 and VD2 are encapsidated in separate icosahedral non-enveloped capsids, which are similar in size and shape. However, the strategies used to express BmBDV structural proteins remains unclear. In this work, a total of six structural proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and shown to be encoded by the BmBDV VP gene via mass spectrometry. The transmission electron microscopy results showed that co-expression of the BmBDV VP and SP structural proteins in Spodoptera frugiperda sf9 cells resulted in the formation of 22–24 nm virus-like particles. Furthermore, a mutation of the major structural protein-encoding VP gene, in which the second in-frame ATG codon was mutated to GCG, abrogated the production of several structural proteins, indicating that this strategy of expressing BmBDV VP is dependent on a leaky scanning translation mechanism.

Bombyx mori cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (BmCPV) specifically infects the epithelial cells in the midgut of silkworm and causes them to death, which negatively affects the sericulture industry. In order to determine the midgut response at the protein levels to the virus infection, differential proteomes of the silkworm midgut responsive to BmCPV infection were identified with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) labeling followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). 193, 408, 189 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were reliably quantified by iTRAQ analysis in the midgut of BmCPV-infected and control larvae at 24, 48, 72 h post infection (hpi) respectively. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that Oxidative phosphorylation, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, steroid hormone biosynthesis were the significant pathways (Q value ≤ 0.05) both at 24 and 48 hpi. qRT-PCR was used to further verify gene transcription of 30 DEPs from iTRAQ, showing that the regulations of 24 genes at the transcript level were consistent with those at the proteomic level. Moreover, the cluster analysis of the three time groups showed that there were seven co-regulated DEPs including BGIBMGA002620-PA, which was a putative p62/sequestosome-1 protein in silkworm. It was upregulated at both the mRNA level and the proteomic level and may play an important role in regulating the autophagy and apoptosis (especially apoptosis) induced by BmCPV infection. This was the first report using an iTRAQ approach to analyze proteomes of the silkworm midgut against BmCPV infection, which contributes to understanding the defense mechanisms of silkworm midgut to virus infection. Significance The domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, is renowned for silk production as well as being a traditional lepidopteron model insect served as a subject for morphological, genetic, physiological, and developmental studies. Bombyx mori cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (BmCPV) specifically infects the epithelial cells in the midgut of silkworm and causes the silkworm to death, which negatively affects the sericulture industry. Studies on insect antiviral immunity and on interactive mechanisms between host cells and BmCPV are in their infancy and remain insufficient. In order to obtain an overall view of silkworm response to BmCPV infection, we performed a proteomic analysis of the midgut of silkworm responses to BmCPV infection by iTRAQ. This was the first report using an iTRAQ approach to analyze proteomes of the silkworm midgut against BmCPV infection, which contributes to understanding the defense mechanisms of silkworm midgut to virus infection.

Brazil is the largest producer of silk cocoons on a commercial scale in the West, and the fifth largest producer of silk yarn in the world. The rearing of silkworm ( Bombyx mori ) is an activity developed mainly in small rural areas, where family work predominates and it represents an important income alternative. The aim of this study is to focus on economical and environmental issues of silk production in Brazil and it presents some uses of silk residues (by-products) in fashion and decoration sectors. Many applications for silk residues are possible, reducing the disposal of raw materials and consequently, the environmental impacts, besides generating employment and income. Thus, sericulture is very important for the Brazilian economy as well as in other developing countries, as it generates income for the country and for rural families, contributing to the settlement of people in these regions, and resulting in a positive correlation between silk production and the reduction of the carbon footprint considering the mitigation provided by mulberry trees.

Sericulture is a technique of rearing silkworms on mulberry or non-mulberry plants for the production of silk fibers. It is mainly used for textile industries, but a large amount of sericulture by-products (from silkworm cultivation to post-cocoon technology), can also add the value to the seri-economy. This review presents the diverse promising applications of sericulture natural products and by-products that have an important role in human welfare. It explores multidimensional applications in the fields of regenerative drugs, tissue engineering, medical textiles, drug delivery systems, cosmeceuticals, food additives, and manufacturing of valuable biomaterials. The silkworm pupa conferred the potential applicability in the field of therapeutics, nutritionals, cosmetics, animal feed, fertilizer, etc. Another emerging area have enticed in sustainable applications for biofuels generation by using sericulture wastes. Thus, the traditional sericulture activities have shown its potential for the diverse and novel emerging field of commercial importance including the concept of biorefinery.

Silk gland is a specialized organ for the synthesis of silk. Spermidine is a natural polyamine present in all living cells. It gained attention recently due to its role in longevity and growth promotion. Our earlier study reported enhancement in silk production after spermidine treatment during the 5th instar larval stage of Bombyx mori hybrid strain CSR2 × CSR4. Oxidative stress increases during the degeneration of silk glands in spinning stage. Spermidine plays an important role in relieving oxidative stress. Results showed that exogenous administration of natural polyamine, spermidine, significantly increased the metabolic activity and reduced the oxidative stress of the silk gland in the pre-pupal stage. Expression analysis also confirmed increase in metabolic activity of silk glands after spermidine treatment by showing enhancement in MYC gene expression. Finally, our results demonstrate that supplementation of spermidine enhanced cell viability and decreased oxidative stress of the silk glands. This work also opens up the idea of feeding antioxidants to silkworms which would be beneficial to the sericulture farmers.

Mulberry (Morus spp.) of Moraceae family is regarded as a unique plant on this earth due to its broader geological distribution across the continents; ability to be cultivated in different forms; multiple uses of leaf foliage and its positive impact in environmental safety approaches such as ecorestoration of degraded lands, bioremediation of polluted sites, conservation of water, prevention of soil erosion and improvement of air quality by carbon sequestering. Mulberry is also used as a medicinal plant in improving and enhancing the life of human beings by utilizing the biologically active pharmacokinetic compounds found in leaf, stem and root parts. Further industrial exploitation of mulberry through preparation of various products in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and health care industries has gained the attention of industrialists. As mulberry is being exploited by sericulture, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and beverage industries along with its utilization in environmental safety approach; it is appropriate to call it as a most suitable plant for sustainable development. Through this review paper, all the important characteristics of mulberry were put together for considering it as an ideal plant in providing sustainable future.

Microsporidia are important entomopathogens known for infecting insects such as the silkworm (Bombyx mori) thus impairing global silk production. This study aimed to identify and characterize the microsporidia isolated from a diseased larva of silkworm, collected from a sericulture farm in southern Brazil. Identification was performed by phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences of the SSU rRNA genes. Characterization was performed by analyzing spore sizes, tissue tropism, internal and external symptoms, and pathogenicity against B. mori. Microsporidia belonging to three different genera were identified, namely, Endoreticulatus, Nosema and Tubulinosema. After inoculation of the mixed spores of the microsporidian isolates into B. mori larvae, a high prevalence of Tubulinosema spp. was observed. This isolate showed high prevalence on the silk glands and a late mortality, initially of around 10% until the 20th day post-inoculation but reaching 91.5% upon pupation. Therefore, we demonstrated that Tubulinosema spp. causes chronic infection with slow pathogenicity. We identified for the first time three different microsporidians concurrently infecting B. mori in Brazil. Tubulinosema is of particular interest because of its potential threat to silk production; it affects the formation of silk glands in B. mori while not presenting distinguishable external symptoms or causing the immediate death of these insects. Further studies focusing on this species, mainly regarding its life cycle within the host and the sublethal effects of surviving individuals, demonstrate the importance of describing it as a new species and improving the characterization of the disease in order to prevent its spread.

Sericulture is a very important and flourishing industry in developing countries. Bombyx mori is a kind of important and well-studied economic insects in the whole world. In China, applying of pyriproxyfen pesticide often resulted in non-cocooning and silk yield reduction. However, the effects of pyriproxyfen exposure on immune signaling pathway in fat body of silkworm has not been reported yet now. In the present study, we found that the growth and development of silkworm were significantly affected by pyriproxyfen exposure and the fat body tissues were injured after treatment. It was also showed that the expressions of key genes of PI3K/Akt and CncC/Keap1 pathway can be elevated at 24–96 h after pyriproxyfen exposure. Furtherly, the relative expression levels of detoxification enzyme genes and the activities of detoxification enzymes were both increased by pyriproxyfen exposure. These results provided comprehensive view of fat body injury and gene expression changes in silkworm after pyriproxyfen exposure.

Mulberry is a crop of economic importance in sericulture and the silkworm solely feeds on its foliage for silk biosynthesis. The study reports characterization of mulberry growth by statistical analysis using morpho-physiological and biochemical components during three cultivation periods. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant variations (p

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:39:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-01-01 This study investigates the effects of the insect growth regulator Novaluron on the silk gland (SG) and silk cocoon production in a nontarget insect, the silkworm Bombyx mori, which is a model research insect among Lepidoptera and of great economic importance for the commercial production of silk threads. Larvae were segregated into experimental groups: the control group (CG) and the treatment group (TG), which was exposed to a Novaluron concentration of 0.15 mL/L. Following exposure, we analyzed the cytotoxic effects on the epithelial cells of the anterior, middle and posterior regions of the SG of B. mori larvae in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th instars, as well as the quality of the cocoons from larvae in the 5th instar. Cytotoxic effects were observed in the TG, such as the dilation of cells, emission of cytoplasmic protrusions, extreme rarefaction of the cytoplasm and nuclei, dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum, intracellular and intercellular spaces, spacing between the epithelial cells and the basal lamina and detachment of some cells towards the lumen of the SG, and decreased protein in the lumen, with faults in its composition. In addition, we verified ultrastructural changes in the production of fibers and silk cocoons, including a reduction in the weight of the cocoons constructed by both males and females in the TG and the construction of defective cocoons. Novaluron exposure impairs the SG and may affect the physiological functions of this organ; additionally, it compromises the quality of silk cocoons, potentially causing serious damage to sericulture. Laboratory of Insects Department of Morphology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Biosciences Center of Biological Sciences and Health State University of Western Paraná (UNIOESTE) Postgraduate in Pathology Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Electron Microscopy Center of the Institute of Biosciences of Botucatu UNESP Laboratory of Insects Department of Morphology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Biosciences Electron Microscopy Center of the Institute of Biosciences of Botucatu UNESP

Murshidabad is the second largest traditional silk producing district in West Bengal, which bears a golden legacy of producing superlative silk in India since seventeenth century. Kassimbazar was one of the major hubs of silk purchase for the British silk merchants. The industry went into great decline as the Industrial Revolution in the West set in. In the post Independence period attempts were made to revive this home-based artisanal industry in India to expand employment and income opportunities in the rural economy. However, during 2002-2012, there was an exodus of more than 23 thousand silk farmers and 10 thousand silk weavers from the industry. This paper delves into issues related with income determinants of the household silk industry in Murshidabad. The primary data analysis exposes that ‘language efficiency’, ‘number of family members’, ‘ownership of bicycle/motorbike and television’, ‘male labour force’ and ‘women autonomy’ are positively influencing the income of the silk producing households, while the significant factors which inversely influences the level of annual income of the silk producing households are ‘age of the household head’, ‘female workers’, ‘cost of production’, ‘male family members’, ‘morbidity of female’ and ‘expenditure autonomy of female in the family’. The government should adopt pro-active measures like subsidizing the cost of silk weavers, revamp the health insurance scheme of the silk manufacturing women and increase the language efficiency to enhance the silk manufacturers’ income earning capacity. The government should also raise the level of sanitation facility of the silk reelers and weavers and communication goods like bicycle, television to be provided.

The promotion of sericulture becomes essential in the context of the development priorities of the district due to its eco-friendly character as it not only favours environmental conservation and makes use of locally available resources, increases equitable development through distribution of its incomes but it also entails high employment generation and has high export earning potential. The development of sericulture and silk industry chiefly depends on providing needful infrastructure and technical service support with enhanced participation of all stakeholders. Further, in order to raise the production quality of silk goods, a number of suggestions were pointed out by various research workers. The suggestions mainly encompass: providing options to the farmers to choose mulberry varieties and silkworm races, reduction in cost of production with a view to have comparative price advantages, utilization of more organic manure on farmers’ field and application of modern and recommended technologies, etc.

Fault-tolerant optical-penetration-based silkworm gender identification is proposed.The key idea lies in the use of dual wavelength illumination.Female pupa can be identified with 26.38ms and accuracy of 92.5% for white light.Silkworms, whose gender are still unknown, are investigated again under red light.The total accuracy is improved to 98% with a slower response time of 53ms. This paper proposes and experimentally demonstrates a fault-tolerant optical-penetration-based silkworm gender identification. The key idea lies in the exploitation of the inherent dual wavelength of white and red light illumination. In particular, the image of the posterior area of the silkworm pupa created under white light is not only transformed into an optical region-of-interest but also is used for pinpointing the female silkworm pupa, thus speeding up the identification time twice. For the male and unidentified female silkworm pupae, their images are later on analyzed under red light illumination, implying fault-tolerant operation of the system. Other important features include low cost, ease of implementation, and simplicity in terms of process control. Experimental demonstration shows a highly accurate 92.5% in identifying female silkworm pupae with a faster average system speed of 26.38ms under white light illumination. Under red light illumination, the remaining male and unidentified female silkworm pupae are clarified with an improved accuracy of 98.9% and the total average analytical time of 53.50ms.

The silkworm, Bombyx mori, is an economically important insect. However, poisoning of silkworms by organophosphate pesticides causes tremendous loss to the sericulture. The fat body is the major tissue involved in detoxification and produces antimicrobial peptides and regulates hormones. In this study, a microarray system comprising 22,987 oligonucluotide 70-mer probes was employed to examine differentially expressed genes in the fat body of B. mori exposed to phoxim insecticide. The results showed that a total of 774 genes were differentially expressed upon phoxim exposure, including 500 up-regulated genes and 274 down-regulated genes. The expression levels of eight detoxification-related genes were up-regulated upon phoxim exposure, including six cytochrome P450s and two glutathione-S-transferases. It was firstly found that eight antimicrobial peptide genes were down-regulated, which might provide important references for studying the larvae of B. mori become more susceptible to microbial infections after phoxim treatment. In addition, we firstly detected the expression level of metamorphosis-related genes after phoxim exposure, which may lead to impacted reproduction. Our results may facilitate the overall understanding of the molecular mechanism of multiple pathways following exposure to phoxim insecticide in the fat body of B. mori.

The paper covers the BAIF led National Agricultural Innovations Project is an initiative by ICAR and supported by the World Bank. (NAIP) (Component 3- NAIP has four component with component 3 on livelihood security) subproject which commenced in 2007 in 76 villages of five backward districts of Maharashtra India with the objective of developing a holistic solution for promoting sustainable livelihoods. Agriculture was the mainstay of livelihood in these areas; however usage of traditional methods, lack of proper irrigation facilities etc led to lower yields causing a ‘forced’ migration to the nearby urban centers. The sustainability approach involved integrated cluster development comprising of interventions that focused on: improved agriculture methods, livestock development, water resource development and forest based initiatives. This partnership between GO-NGO-people's organizations has positively impacted over 12,000 families in addressing their livelihood needs.

Microsporidia cause the disease pebrine in silkworm and are known to be detrimental to sericulture and beekeeping. The microsporidian species Nosema bombycis was rapidly identified in silkworm (Bombyx mori) using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Four types of microsporidian spores purified from infected silkworm could be distinguished based on the differences in their mass fingerprints. Microsporidia growing in a silkworm larva were also identified based on their mass spectra after rapid separation using filtration and centrifugation for 30 min.

Beauveria bassiana, a pathogen of the economically important silkworm (Bombyx mori), causes serious losses in the sericulture industry; however, the mechanisms underlying B. bassiana infection and the silkworm response are not fully understood. To obtain new insights into the interaction between B. bassiana and its host, hemolymph samples from fifth instar silkworm larvae infected with B. bassiana were analyzed at 36-h post-inoculation using a label-free LC-MS/MS proteomic technique. In total, 671 proteins were identified in the hemolymph, including 87 differentially expressed proteins, 42 up-regulated and 45 down-regulated in infected larvae. Six were detected only in infected larvae, and five were detected only in uninfected larvae. Based on GO annotations, 48 of the differentially expressed proteins were involved in molecular functions, 42 were involved in biological processes, and 39 were involved in cell components. A KEGG pathway analysis indicated that these differentially expressed proteins participate in 85 signal transduction pathways, including the amoebiasis, MAPK signaling, Hippo signaling, Toll and Imd signaling, and lysosome pathways. The silkworm hemolymph is the main site for B. bassiana replication. We identified differentially expressed proteins involved in the regulation of the host response to B. bassiana infection, providing important experimental data for the identification of key factors contributing to the interaction between the pathogenic fungus and its host.

Flacherie is a widely prevalent disease in silkworms that causes huge economic losses to the sericulture industry. The Bombyx mori bidensovirus (BmBDV) is one of the causative agents of this disease. A major gene, nsd-2 (non-susceptibility to densovirus-2), a putative BmBDV receptor conferring resistance under recessive mutation condition has previously been identified. The natural deletion occurring in the nsd-2 gene has contributed to the evolution of BmBDV resistant silkworm breeds. However, nsd-2 has not yet been utilized as a marker or as a transgene for the development of BmBDV resistant breeds. In this study, we have demonstrated the use of the functional marker, nsd-2 for the development of absolute BmBDV resistant productive mulberry silkworm breeds. We screened 49 productive bivoltine breeds and identified 28 breeds carrying the nsd-2 resistant allele. Sixteen breeds having the resistant allele were identified in heterozygous condition at the nsd-2 locus, so these breeds could not be identified as resistant carrier when challenged with virus inoculation. Further, we have shown that selecting nsd-2 resistant allele in homozygous condition, at the nsd-2 locus is sufficient for the development of BmBDV resistant productive breeds like CSR6-R and CSR26-R. We have also validated the developed breeds for resistance to BmBDV through bioassays and found absence of viral genome at the molecular level thereby demonstrating complete resistance upon BmBDV infection, in the developed breeds.

The present work was carried out to investigate eggs fertility of Bombyx mori L. as affected by mating duration and male fertility and their ability of mating more than once of silkworm. Monovoltine hybrid imported race of B. mori L. was obtained from Sericulture Research Department, Agriculture Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture in form of eggs and reared under laboratory conditions of 25 ± 3 °C, 72 ± 2% R.H. and 15:9 daily L:D and the emergence moths were used for the mating experiment. The obtained results showed that the minimum duration of mating to produce fertility eggs higher than 95% was ½ h and the least fertility rate of eggs was produced when the mating duration was less than ½ h. The average highest number of females for mating with the same male is 20.8 females, the average number of females that laid fertilized eggs at a higher rate of 90% is 13.8 female, the average number of females that laid fertilized eggs at a lower rate of 90% is 2.6 female while the average number of mated (4.4 females) females laid unfertilized eggs.

Silkworm sex identification is one of the important processes in the sericulture industry because it can assist in effectively separating strong and healthy silkworm pupae from the weak ones. In this paper, we study and show that a desired moderate accuracy and fast response time in silkworm gender identification can be realized by deploying a widely-used and simple normalized cross correlation (NCC)-based pattern matching operation in our optical penetration-based silkworm pupa gender identification structure. Other key features are ease of implementation, adaptive learning ability, and low component counts. Experimental proof of concept is performed by using three 636-nm wavelength light emitting diodes, one 1600x1200-pixel web camera, an 8-bit microcontroller, a notebook computer, and our LabView program. There are 25 female and 20 male silkworm pupae under the study. Experimental results show that male silkworm pupae can be completely identified under the NCC-based pattern matching performed in both the Cartesian and polar coordinate systems. For the female silkworm pupa, the best measured accuracies of 80% and 56% are obtained by performing the NCC-based pattern matching operations in the Cartesian and polar coordinate systems, respectively. The NCC-based pattern matching operation in the Cartesian coordinate system also offers a measured 13-ms response time, which is twice faster than in the polar coordinate system. The moderate measured total accuracy of 88% and fast silkworm gender identification shows high potential for the deployment in the sericulture industry.

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is an economically important insect. However, non-cocoon caused by chemical insecticide poisoning has largely hindered the development of sericulture. To explore the roles of detoxification enzymes in B. mori after insecticide poisoning, we monitored the activity changes of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, glutathione-S-transferase, and carboxylesterase in B. mori midgut and fatbody after phoxim feeding. At the same time, the expression levels of detoxification enzyme-related genes were also determined by real-time quantitative PCR. Compare to the control levels, the activity of P450 in the midgut and fatbody was increased to 1.72 and 6.72 folds; the activity of GST was no change in midgut, and in fatbody increased to 1.11 folds; the activity of carboxylesterase in the midgut was decreased to 0.69 folds, and in fatbody increased to 1.13 folds. Correspondingly, the expression levels of detoxifying enzyme genes CYP6ae22, CYP9a21, GSTo1 and Bmcce were increased to 15.99, 3.32, 1.86 and 2.30 folds in the midgut and to 3.58, 1.84, 2.14 and 4.21 folds in the fatbody after phoxim treatment. These results demonstrated the important roles of detoxification enzymes in phoxim metabolism. In addition, the detected activities of such enzymes were generally lower than those in cotton bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera), which may contribute to the high susceptibility of B. mori to insecticides. Our findings laid the foundation for further investigations of the molecular mechanisms of organophosphorus pesticide metabolism in B. mori.

Mulberry is an economic tree being cultivated in China, India and several other Asian countries to feed the silkworm, Bombyx mori, as mulberry leaf is the only food material available for this insect. The recent burst in the industrialization and urbanization has considerably reduced the availability of land for agriculture purposes in these Asian countries. This, in turn, has added much pressure on many agro-based industries, including sericulture, to utilize the hitherto unutilized or marginally utilized areas for crop production. Sericulture, a rural agro-based industry, is attempting to expand mulberry cultivation to drought- and salinity-affected lands. Mulberry is only moderately tolerant to salinity and drought stresses, thus utilization of natural variations in stress tolerance does not hold much promise. Therefore, efforts are being taken to develop stress-tolerant varieties using modern biotechnological methods, including transgenesis. This paper provides an overview of the progress made to achieve this latter goal, highlighting the problems and prospects. Different methodologies used to achieve transgenic mulberry, their merits and demerits are also discussed.

The fifth instar larvae of the silkworm Bombyx mori L were exposed to selected high temperatures (35 and 40 degrees C) in order to understand the changes in the level of catalase activity in the three tissues of fat body, midgut and haemolymph of the five selected bivoltine breeds and their 9 quantitative traits, namely larval weight, cocoon weight, shell weight, shell ratio, filament length, filament weight, denier, renditta and effective rearing rate (ERR), also the correlation between them under high temperature conditions were examined. Catalase activity resulting in fat body revealed a positive correlation between the control (28 +/- 1 degrees C) and 40 +/- 1 degrees C. The CSR2 breed showed the most level of thermotolerance and catalase activity, compared with the CSR4, JROP, NB4D2 and KA breeds. It was found that the level of catalase activity in fat body may be a reliable biochemical index to recognize thermotolerant breeds in order to develop resistant hybrids for tropical areas. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mulberry leaves are the sole source of food for silkworms (Bombyx mori), and moisture content of the detached leaves fed to silkworms determines silkworm growth and cocoon yield. Since leaf dehydration in commercial sericulture is a serious problem, development of new methods that minimize post-harvest water loss are greatly needed. In the present study, variability in moisture retention capacity (MRC, measured as leaf relative water content after one to 5 h of air-drying) was examined by screening 290 diverse mulberry accessions and the relationship between MRC and leaf surface (cuticular) wax amount was determined. Leaf MRC varied significantly among accessions, and was found to correlate strongly with leaf wax amount. Scanning electron microscopic analysis indicated that leaves having crystalline surface waxes of increased facet size and density were associated with high MRC accessions. Leaf MRC at 5 h after harvest was not related to other parameters such as specific leaf weight, and stomatal frequency and index. This study suggests that mulberry accessions having elevated leaf surface wax amount and crystal size and density exhibit reduced leaf post-harvest water loss, and could provide the foundation for selective breeding of improved cultivars.

Sericulture is an important livelihood option in rural West Bengal providing employment to more than 1 lakh families in the rural and semi-urban areas. The productivity level of sericulture (land and leaf) is not low compared to that of the major silk producing states in the country, which opens further scope to research and analyse about its productivity. This paper has explored several dimensions of its growth pattern during the planning periods of West Bengal. A field level survey in the major silk producing district of West Bengal has exposed few factors like household size and male hired labourers which are positively raising the level of average employment in the sericulture farms, while education level acts as a significant reducing factor, along with mandays involved with the activities. It implies sericulture is still only a popular livelihood activity among the backward people. On the other hand, small holding capacity of the rural farmers and poor economic condition of the artisans have been identified as major impediments in the path of development of sericulture in West Bengal. The rural moneylenders/ traders (dadani mahajan) utilizes this advantage and extracts a major part of the pay-off intruding into the supply chain of the industry. In the textile policy, the objective of the government always centres on the issues like extension of sericulture through acreage and production, ignoring the issues like ‘economic-exploitation’ faced by the artisanal classes at each level of value addition in the supply chain. In the absence of institutional apathy and well-linked credit system in the remote rural areas coupled with financial illiteracy of the rural artisans, the objective of development of artisanal silk industry in West Bengal seems to be far away.

Insect parasitism was known in China for a long time in the form of parasitic tachinid flies of silkworms (Bombyx mori L.). These tachinid flies were first mentioned in the Chinese literature around 300 AD. The developmental cycle of this tachinid (possibly a species of the genus Exorista) were clearly described by Lu Dian in 1096. This antedates the first descriptions of insect parasitoids from Europe by 600 years. Another parasitic fly, a flesh fly (possibly Blaesoxipha lapidosa Pape) was noted as the main parasitoid of Locusta migratoria manilensis Meyen in 1196. The first Chinese record with a correct description of the life cycle of a hymenopteran parasitoid dates from 1704.

In Japan, early research on insect parasitism, i.e., from 1850 onwards, had a profound effect of sericulture. Insect parasitism in Japan was recognized in 1856, when S. Iimuro first described parasitism of silkworm larvae by the tachinid Blepharipa sericariae. C. Sasaki published a full report on the life history of this parasitic fly in 1887, showing that the female fly laid microtype eggs on mulberry foliage, that these eggs were ingested by the silkworm larva as it fed, and that they hatched in the host gut to parasitize it. C. Sasaki shared credit for this epoch-making discovery with his father, N. Sasaki, who pioneered research on parasitism in Japan. Much work on ecology, behavior, physiology, and control of this pest fly was done from the time of discovery until the 1950s, when sericulture began to decline in Japan. Subsequent contributions to parasitoid research included Utida’s [Ecology 38 (1957) 442] outstanding work on population interactions in laboratory host–parasitoid systems. More recently, most parasitoid research has dealt with ecology, especially behavioral ecology of parasitoids and the use of parasitoids in biological control of insect pests. However, the taxonomy of the parasitoid fauna is not well developed in Japan, constituting a major obstacle to continued ecological research.

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is the primary pathogen of silkworms, causing severe economic losses in sericulture. To create antiviral silkworm strains, we constructed a transgenic vector in which the dsRNA for five tandem BmNPV genes was controlled by the BmNPV hr3 enhancer and IE1 promoter. The antivirus gene Bmlipase-1 was driven by B. mori midgut-specific promoter P2. Transgenic strains (SW-H) were generated via embryo microinjection using the practical silkworm strain SW. After infection with a high dose of BmNPV, the survival rates of SW-H and non-transgenic SW were 64% and 13%, respectively. SW-H could be the first transgenic animal that is highly antiviral and that might inhibit the virus at multiple stages of infection.

The effect of the common pyrethroid insecticide fenvalerate-20EC (Sumicidine-20EC) on food utilization parameters in the pure multivoltine (Pure Mysore) and pure bivoltine (NB4D2) races of silkworm, Bombyx mori, fed ad libitum with Morus alba, was studied in the final two instars. Insecticide treatment was found to reduce the rates of feeding, assimilation, and conversion along with the efficiencies of conversion of ingested and digested food into body substance. This was due to the toxic effects, which interfered with the silkworms' feeding behavior, and physiology of digestion, and the magnitude of changes increased with the increase in the concentration of fenvalerate used. To overcome the deleterious effects of such pyrethroid insecticides, it has been suggested that the safe periods for use of mulberry leaves contaminated with fenvalerate for summer and winter.

The golden-yellow silk fibres obtained from Antheraea assama Westwood (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) reared on leaves of three different host plants belonging to the family Lauraceae, were studied to evaluate their characteristic physico-chemical properties. The host plants, Machilus bombycina king, Litsaea polyantha A. Juss and Litsaea citrata Roxby, significantly influenced silk length, width, sericin and amino-acid contents of the fibres. The contents of the predominant amino-acids; glycine (10.55 μg), aspartic (5.43 μg) and serine (7.15 μg), were higher in fibres obtained from cocoons of A. assama fed on M. bombycina, while alanine (9.46 μg) was higher in the fibres of cocoons obtained from the other two host plants. The breaking load (17.791 g) and tenacity (3.562 g/d) were higher in cocoons from the host plant M. bombycina. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed the amorphous nature of the fibres obtained from the cocoons of A. assama fed on L. polyantha and L. citrata, while fibres obtained from cocoons from M. bombycina showed amorphous bands with little tendency to two dimensional order. Above all, the natural golden yellow hue of the fibre, which is one of the most important and commercially valuable added properties of this particular silk variety, was better retained in the fibres extracted from cocoons of A. assama larvae reared on M. bombycina.

In any discourse on sociology and anthropology, one fact that clearly emerges is that women can generally be trusted to perform their duties with utmost care and attention. This is more so in the case of agriculture and allied activities. No wonder women are playing a very important role in the sericulture industry. Their qualities like maternal instincts and loving care of those under their charge prove to be very helpful in the successful breeding of silk worms. The sericulture industry has opened up phenomenal employment avenues and helped women to become important players in the decision-making process—whether in the household or in the community at large. The active involvement of women is very essential for the success of the any community development initiative. This has been proved on many occasions all over the world—more so in the developing countries. For instance, the success of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Andhra Pradesh and other states of India is all due to the active role played by women. The thrust of this article is on the role of women in promotion of sericulture activities in the village, and how their participation has led to community development. Given the above backdrop, the present article is based on an empirical work undertaken in Kotha Indlu village, Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh in South India. Sericulture is an important means for generating employment, income enhancement crop enterprises, and is a most appropriate household activity. In all these activities, women have shown their mettle and performed their tasks most skillfully. In the village under study, women are playing an important role in silk rearing and processing activities. This article will endeavor to show how “sericulture,” an agro-based activity, has brought about overall development of individual households, the village, and the community at large.

Employment generation is one of the major potentials of Sericulture and Silk Industry in India. The farm and non-farm activity of this sector creates sixty lakh mandays of employment every year mostly in rural sector. The industry helps to create egalitarian distribution of income as it transfers greater share of its wealth from high end urban customers to poor artisan classes. In West Bengal, more than one lakh families are occupied with sericulture activities where Karnataka is the state with the largest number of families involved with sericulture. Despite having high level family involvement, West Bengal produces smaller quantities of raw silk compared to Karnataka as well as Andhra Pradesh. This paper investigates the reason of this low production and finds out that low productivity of land is no way responsible for that. Different Employment Models constructed in this paper suggest that ‘area of mulberry cultivation’, ‘cocoon-market’ and ‘power-looms’ are powerful factors in changing the level of employment, while the primary survey exposes factors like ‘unitary household structure’, ‘income’ ‘years of education’ and ‘numbers of female in the household’ as the significant factors in accelerating average employment per family. The spillover effect of this employment generation is studied at the end. The study finds that as a poverty eradication measure, sericulture fails to expand in rural West Bengal vis-a-vis the other prominent states. But income inequality is undoubtedly diminished with the practice in sericulture.

There has been much effort, particularly by various companies, to isolate new strains of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) with increased potency to target insect pests and/or a wider host range. This is with a view to the production of microbial insecticides or transgenic plants expressing the Bt insecticidal protein. Bt can be isolated readily from insects, stored product material, sericulture environments, the phylloplane, and it is also a ubiquitous soil bacterium. New strains have been characterised by unusual crystal morphology or protein profile, DNA probes, reactivity with crystal antisera and insecticidal activity. Recently new strains have been found with activity against New Zealand grass grub, southern corn rootworm, Mexican bean beetle, root lesion and animal parasitic nematodes, mushroom flies, Australian sheep blowfly, and the sheep body louse. The opportunity for finding new Bt strains will depend on screening isolates against new insect pests or large-scale screening to find isolates with increased toxicity.

The organic wastes obtained from the rural areas such as from the ericulture/sericulture industry could optimally be utilized for mushroom ( Pleurotus sajor-caju ) cultivation and anaerobic digestion. In the present study, ericulture waste was screened for P. sajor-caju cultivation and biogas production. The study indicates that integrating ericulture and mushroom cultivation with anaerobic digestion it is not only possible to obtain microbial protein, biogas and fertilizer, but also the pollution of environment is minimised.

Insect silk glands are ectodermal organs that evolved several times in the phylogeny from one of the following cell types: epidermal cells associated with bristle formation; sex accessory glands; larval Malpighian tubules; and larval labial salivary glands. As far as is known, the ultrastructure of the silk-producing cells is similar in all gland types, except for the labial glands of lower Hymenoptera. In most Lepidoptera and Trichoptera, the posterior gland region secretes fibroin and one to several small proteins; this core of silk is enveloped in the middle region of the gland by a mixture of sericins. The cuticle-lined anterior region provides the gland outlet. Lepidopteran silk glands become secretory prior to hatching. During larval life they increase their secretory potential by growing in size and ploidy. Their function fluctuates in each instar according to a “larval” pattern, which is characterized by the initiation of intensive RNA transcription with the resumption of feeding, by a high rate of proteosynthesis during feeding, and by cessation of these activities with the advancement of the next molt. In the last-larval instar, the silk glands develop according to a metamorphic pattern that differs from the larval one by enhanced function and, especially, by the programming of silk glands for histolysis. Starvation of larvae causes silk gland regression, cold shock prevents spinning, and exposure of larvae to alcohol vapours kills certain silk gland cells. Development of silk glands is altered with hormonal treatments of larvae. Juvenile hormone (JH) curbs silk gland function, prevents their degeneration, and, indirectly, it can cause an increase in silk production. Low doses of ecdysteroids accelerate silk gland development to increased function, while high doses cause regression and degeneration. Juvenile hormone anologues and anti-JH compounds are used in sericulture to control the yield and quality of silk. Available data are consistent with the following scheme of the hormonal control of silk glands. The change from the larval to the metamorphic developmental pattern is caused by a drop in JH titre. Realization of the pattern depends on consecutive action of several factors: trace amounts of JH in the last-larval instar affect silk glands via regulation of feeding and molt timing; function of silk glands depends on nutrient supply and it is stimulated by a brain neurohormone; slight elevation of ecdysteroid titre, which is associated with the termination of feeding and initiation of cocoon spinning, may be implicated in the culmination of proteosynthesis, and in the initiation of functional regression in the silk glands; the molt-inducing surge of ecdysteroids induces regression in the silk glands developing according to the larval pattern, but degeneration in those completing the metamorphic developmental pattern.

Rationale Allergy to silk is a well-known occupational hazard in sericulture. Immediate cutaneous and respiratory symptoms due to silk clothing are rare. Methods A 13-year-old woman suffered from asthmatic symptoms and urticaria while wearing a wild silk dress. Skin prick tests were performed with different kinds of silk. Specific IgE for wild silk and cultivated silk were measured using CAP Pharmacia technique. A challenge test was performed, previous informed consent, by exposure to her silk dress. A spirometry was carried out before and after the challenge test. Results The skin prick tests were positive (wheal >3 mm) for all kinds of silk tested. Specific IgE for wild silk was 0,51 ku/l (CAP 1), and 2,81 ku/l (CAP 2) for cultivated silk. After the exposure to the silk dress, the patient developed, immediately, itching and hives in contact areas, as well as conjunctival congestion, that relieved with antihistaminic treatment. Both spirometries, before and after the challenge test, were normal. Conclusions A case of a 13-year-old woman that suffered from asthmatic and cutaneous symptoms due to a silk dress is presented. In this case a mediated IgE response to silk was proved.