Transcriptional Response of Silkworm (Bombyx mori) Eggs to O₂ or HCl Treatment.

Jing Gong,Yong Zhu,Sha Tian,Xia Zhou,Huan Yang,Yong Hou

doi:10.3390/ijms17121838

Jing Gong, Yong Zhu + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17121838

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Abstract

Diapause is a common biological phenomenon that occurs in many organisms, including fish, insects, and nematodes. In the silkworm (Bombyx mori), diapause generally occurs in the egg stage. Treatment with O2, HCl, or other compounds can prevent egg diapause. Here, we characterized the transcriptomic responses of newly laid eggs treated with O2 or HCl. Digital gene expression analysis showed that 610 genes in O2-treated eggs and 656 in HCl-treated eggs were differentially expressed. Of these, 343 genes were differentially expressed in both treatments. In addition to trehalases, sorbic acid dehydrogenases, and some enzymes involved in the carbohydrate metabolism, we also identified heat shock proteins, cytochrome P450, and GADD45, which are related to stress tolerance. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed differentially expressed genes in O2-treated eggs were involved in oxidoreductase activity as well as in binding, catalytic, and metabolic processes. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that the pathways for ribosome biogenesis, spliceosome, and circadian rhythm were significantly enriched in HCl-treated eggs. The reliability of the data was confirmed by qRT-PCR analysis. Our results improved the understanding of the mechanism of diapause blocking in silkworm eggs treated with O2 or HCl and identified novel molecular targets for future studies.

Highlights

Diapause, defined as a period of arrested development and reduced energy consumption, is a strategy that helps animals survive extreme environmental conditions, such as cold, heat, and drought
The environmental conditions of egg development affect whether silkworm eggs enter diapause
Dazao, a bivoltine silkworm strain, lays eggs that experience diapause if they are incubated under long-day conditions (18 h light:6 h dark) at 25 ◦C during the egg-development stage, whereas when the eggs are incubated in continuous darkness at 15 ◦C, they do not experience diapause [7]

Summary

Introduction

Diapause, defined as a period of arrested development and reduced energy consumption, is a strategy that helps animals survive extreme environmental conditions, such as cold, heat, and drought. Diapause occurs in both vertebrates and invertebrates [1,2]. Diapause occurs at any stage of the development, including egg, larva, pupa, and adult, and the underlying biological mechanism has been studied extensively [3]. The environmental conditions of egg development affect whether silkworm eggs enter diapause. Dazao, a bivoltine silkworm strain, lays eggs that experience diapause if they are incubated under long-day conditions (18 h light: h dark) at 25 ◦C during the egg-development stage, whereas when the eggs are incubated in continuous darkness at 15 ◦C, they do not experience diapause [7]

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