The egg size determining gene,Esd, is a unique morphological marker on the W chromosome ofBombyx mori

Abstract

Triploid females of the silkworm,Bombyx mori, were produced by crossing a tetraploid female with a male carrying asch (sex-linked chocolate) gene on its Z chromosomes. Since thesch gene expresses the color of reddish brown (chocolate) in newly hatched larvae, the females with ZWW chromosomes become chocolate, while those with ZZW have normal color (black). The effects of the W chromosome on oogenesis were studied by comparing these two types of 3n females. Despite the fact that the theoretical value of the ratio of chocolate larvae to black larvae should be 1:5, the actual ratio was found to be 1:80. The chocolate larvae revealed very low hatchability. Thirteen adult ZWW female moths were obtained, all laying normal-shaped eggs and even larger than those of 4n females which also have two W chromosomes. Eighty percent of the eggs of ZZW 3n females were irregular-shaped, and the size of the normal-shaped eggs was as large as that of 2n females which possess one W chromosome. It is hypothesized that egg size is determined by a gene on the W chromosome. The higher frequency of normal-shaped eggs in the ZWW female group than the ZZW female group suggests the presence of another kind of gene on the W chromosome, which leads to normal oogenesis.