Proteomic analysis of midgut in silkworm reared on UV-B induced mulberry leaves and moracin N by SWATH-MS

Abstract

Mulberry is a kind of important medicinal plant and its leaf is the main food sources of silkworm. Previous studies showed that the content of secondary metabolites in mulberry leaves, particularly for moracin N, was increased after UV-B induction. To uncover the effects on the growth and development in silkworm reared on different mulberry leaves, SWATH-based proteomic technique was used to analyze the protein profiles of midgut in silkworm reared on fresh mulberry leaf (FM), UV-B induced mulberry leaf (UVM), and fresh mulberry leaf spread with moracin N (NM), respectively. Compared to the FM group, a total of 90 and 182 proteins were identified as differentially expressed proteins in UVM and NM groups, respectively. Of note, the abundance of vacuolar ATP synthase protein was increased by 17 times. The abundance of proteins related to silkworm disease resistance such as ATP-binding cassette, programmed cell death 6-interacting protein, and ribosomal protein were also increased. GO category and KEGG pathway analysis showed that amino acid metabolism and propanoate metabolism in silkworm were affected by UVM and NM. These results suggest that UVM and NM could be developed as a potential drug for improving the immune system in silkworm.