Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera) Larval Midgut Response to BmNPV in Susceptible and Near-Isogenic Resistant Strains.

Xue-Yang Wang,Dong-Qiong Fei,Yan Ma,Shang-Zhi Zhang,Dong Yu,Lei Geng,Hai-Zhong Yu,Jia-Ping Xu,Erjun Ling

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155341

Xue-Yang Wang, Dong-Qiong Fei + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0155341

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: May 11, 2016
Citations: 112	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Anhui Agricultural University

Abstract

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is one of the primary pathogens causing severe economic losses in sericulture. However, the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV remains largely unknown. Here, the recurrent parent P50 (susceptible strain) and the near-isogenic line BC9 (resistance strain) were used in a comparative transcriptome study examining the response to infection with BmNPV. A total of 14,300 unigenes were obtained from two different resistant strains; of these, 869 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after comparing the four transcriptomes. Many DEGs associated with protein metabolism, cytoskeleton, and apoptosis may be involved in the host response to BmNPV infection. Moreover, some immunity related genes were also altered following BmNPV infection. Specifically, after removing genetic background and individual immune stress response genes, 22 genes were found to be potentially involved in repressing BmNPV infection. These genes were related to transport, virus replication, intracellular innate immune, and apoptosis. Our study provided an overview of the molecular mechanism of silkworm resistance to BmNPV infection and laid a foundation for controlling BmNPV in the future.

Highlights

The silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) has been domesticated for production of cocoons for more than 5000 years
The LC50 value was used to evaluate the resistant level of silkworm to Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) infection
A total of four cDNA libraries were sequenced: P50- (P50 treated with sterile water), P50+ (P50 infected with BmNPV), BC9- (BC9 treated with sterile water), BC9+ (BC9 infected with BmNPV), with each group created in triplicate

Summary

Introduction

The silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) has been domesticated for production of cocoons for more than 5000 years. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) has been domesticated for production of cocoons for more than 5000 years. Silkworm rearing and the silk industry still play an important role in China, India and many other developing countries. B. mori is a good model for the study of insect genetics and immunology [1,2,3,4]. Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is the principal silkworm pathogen and causes serious economic losses in sericulture every year. Most are susceptible to BmNPV infection, a few strains exhibit resistance [5]. The heredity of silkworm resistance against BmNPV infection is a relatively complicated process because resistance is controlled both by major dominant genes and multiple genes of micro-effect [6]

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