Changes in growth and lipid profiles of silk gland, mid-gut biochemical composition of silkworm, Bombyx mori L. on exposure to prostaglandin F 2α

Abstract

The growth of the silkworm is influenced by the outside and inside environment. Among them, the category of various endocrine hormone of inside is the main factors that adjust the characters such as growth and propagate. In this experiment, we applied different dosage of prostaglandin to the fourth and fifth instar silkworm to observe the effects of prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α) on silk gland growth, mid-gut biochemical constituents and the lipid profiles of silkworm larva, Bombyx mori L. The weight of the posterior silk gland increased significantly ( P<0.001) by 20–24% after treatment with PGF 2α. The increase in the lipid profiles except lipase activity suggests that the silk gland had more synthetic activity that might reflect in active spinning of silkworm larva. The changes of total proteins, free amino acids and alkaline phosphatase in mid-gut of control and PGF 2α treated silkworm, B. mori L. indicate that PGF 2α favored stimulatory effect on physiology of digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients which might influence on the growth and development of larva.