Juvenile hormone modifications of gene expression in the fat body and posterior silk glands of Bombyx mori

Abstract

The patterns of protein synthetic activities were determined in the fat body and silk glands of Bombyx mori larvae during the fifth instar. Comparisons were made between control and juvenile hormone or methoprene—treated animals. In normal larvae, the relative synthetic activities of a few proteins increase up to the time of spinning. In treated larvae, the presence of high levels of juvenile hormone or methoprene never results in an arrest of the expression of differentiation at the molecular level. The syntheses of the most abundant markers of development in both organs are reduced by the hormone, but total inhibition has never been observed. The transfer of a large amount of proteins (28–29 kd) from the fat body to the haemolymph is decreased.