• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.262-265
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• 2017

Bombyx mori (silkworm pupae) is a unique and biologically significant insect, which is a recognized source of high quality protein that provides all the essential amino acids required for human health. Recently, many studies have focused on various biomedical applications of B. mori proteins. The purpose of this study was to manufacture protein-fortified kefir containing different concentrations of B. mori powder according to pH and sensory evaluations. The value of the protein-fortified kefir increased but the pH decreased with increasing incubation time, indicating that the amount of B. mori powder did not affect and pH. Addition of B. mori powder also did not affect the sensory properties of overall acceptability, texture, and color compared to control group without addition of B. mori powder. However, flavor and taste were affected by increasing the amounts of B. mori powder, with a significant difference in both flavor and taste between the control and treated groups (both p<0.05). There was no significant difference in overall acceptability, texture, and color. Further studies are needed for producing kefir as a dietary supplement utilizing the functional properties of B. mori.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.69-74
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• 2007

As the genome of B. mori is available in GenBank and the EST database of B. mori is expanding, identification of novel genes of B. mori was conceivable by datamining techniques and bioinformatics tools. In this study, we used the in silico cloning method to get the 6-Phosphogluconolactonase (6PGL) gene of B. mori and analysed with bioinformatics tools. The result was confirmed by RT-PCR and prokaryotic expression. The 6PGL cDNA comtains a 702 bp ORF. The deduced protein has 233 amino acid residues, with the predicted molecular weight of 25946. 72 Da, isoelectric point of 5.41, and contains conserved NagB domains. This gene has been registered in GenBank under the accession number EF198104.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.123-126
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• 2004

The actin-binding protein profilin cDNA was firstly isolated from the lepidopteran insect, silkworm Bombyx mori. The B. mori profilin cDNA contains an open reading frame of 378 bp encoding 126 amino acid residues and possesses three cysteine residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the B. mori profilin cDNA showed 80% identity to Apis mellifera profilin and 72% to Drosophila melanogaster profilin. Northern blot analysis showed that B. mori profilin is highly expressed in epidermis and less strongly in silk gland. In addition, Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of B. mori profilin transcripts in all tissues examined, suggesting that B. mori profilin gene is expressed in most, if not all, body tissues.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.163-167
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• 2010

[ $\alpha$ ]Glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20) is a glycosidase that hydrolyzes disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides resulting in the release of α-D-glucose. In this study, $\alpha$-glucosidase activity in the hemolymph and midgut of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori and Japanese oak silkmoth Antheraea yamamai was measured using maltose, sucrose, trehalose, and p-nitrophenyl $\alpha$-D-glucopyranoside as substrates. In general, hemolymph $\alpha$-glucosidase activity was higher in B. mori than in A. yamamai. In contrast, midgut $\alpha$-glucosidase activity was higher in A. yamamai than in B. mori for all of the substrates tested. $\alpha$-Glucosidase activity in the midgut of both B. mori and A. yamamai showed similar responses to changes in pH and temperature for all of the substrates tested. Native (7.5%) PAGE of hemolymph and midgut proteins from B. mori and A. yamamai followed by staining with 4-methylumbelliferyl $\alpha$-D-glucoside (MUG) indicated that the $\alpha$-glucosidases of these related lepidopterans are functionally similar but structurally different. In comparison to $\alpha$-glucosidase activity from A. yamamai, $\alpha$-glucosidase activity from B. mori was generally less sensitive to the $\alpha$-glucosidase inhibitors, 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), acarbose, and voglibose when the activity was determined using maltose, sucrose, and trehalose.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.145-149
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• 2003

ApolipophorinIII (apoLp-III) is a protypical exchangeable apolipoprotein that is abundant in hemolymph of many insect species. Its function lies in the stabilization of low-density lipophorin particles (LDLp) crossing the hemocoel in phases of high energy consumption to deliver lipids from the fat body to the flight muscle cells. But, recent studies with naive Galleria mellonella-apoLp-III gave first indication of an unexpected role of that protein in insect immune activation. In this research, we cloned a cDNA encoding putative apoLp-III from the silkworm, Bombyx mori injected with E. coli and characterized its role. We constructed a cDNA library using whole bodies of B. mori larvae injected with E. coli, carried out the differential screening, and selected the up-regulated clones. Among these clones, we focused on a cDNA showing a high sequence similarity to the apolipophorinIII from other insects and analyzed the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences. The pupative B. mori Jam123 apoLp-III cDNA contained 1,131 bp encoding 186 amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the B. mori apoLp-III cDNA formed a highly inclusive subgroup with Bombycidae. But, it was interesting that B. mori Jam123 is closer to B. mandarina than B. mori P50 and B. mori N4. Northern blot analysis showed a signal in the fat body, posterior silkgland and midgut.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제47권2호
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• pp.134-139
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• 2023

SIRT5 and PRDx1 play crucial roles in cancer and are involved in the basic mechanisms of reactive oxygen species detoxification. In our previous studies, we showed that hemolymph extracts of immune-challenged Bombyx mori have antioxidant properties. Following H₂O₂ stimulation, immune-challenged B. mori hemolymph extracts elicited SIRT5 downregulation activity, reaching effective activity at the highest concentration of 100 ppm. Additionally, cells treated with immune-challenged B. mori hemolymph extracts demonstrated increased PRDx1 mRNA expression compared to that of PBS-treated cells. Therefore, immune-challenged B. mori hemolymph extracts offer a potential auxiliary means of treating drug-resistant tumors through downregulation of SIRT5 and upregulation of PRDx1 expression. Nevertheless, further studies on the effects of B. mori hemolymph on SIRT5 and PRDx1 regulation are pertinent for using it as a food or pharmaceutical material and understanding its therapeutic effect on tumors, including those that are drug-resistant.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.201-204
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• 2002

This study was undertaken to find effects of ethanol extracts from Bombyx mori on the hyperglycemia induced by streptozotocin in rats. Blood glucose level of rats increased depending on experimental days after streptozotocin treatment. But there was no difference in blood glucose level between the rats injected with ethanol extracts of B. mori and normal rats. There was no significant difference in the kidney fibrosis between the rats injected with ethanol extrscts of B. mori and normal rats at all ages examined. The transforming growth factor-$\beta$l ($TGF-{\beta}1$) protein was detected in the glomerulay endothelial cells and tubular epithelial cells of streptozotocin rats at 14 days of age. In the rats injected with ethanol extracts of B. mori to the kidneys, the $TGF-{\beta}1$ protein was detected very faintly. The $TGF-{\beta}1$ mRNA of streptozotocin rats increased at 14 days of age, and this was higher than the rats injected with ethanol extrscts of B. mori. Taken these together, the results suggest that the ethanol extracts of B. mori ameliorate hyperglycemia of the rats induced by streptozotocin.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.9-17
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• 2000

Genetic variation in the domestic silkworm strains (Bombyx mori) and phylogenetic relationships between domestic silkworms and wild silkworms (B. mandarina) were investigated by using a portion of mitochondrial CGI gene sequences. Ten geographic strains of B. mori we sequenced were identical in the 410 bp-section of mitochondrial COI gene. This sequence was also identical to the homologous sequence of the four Gen-Bank-registered strains, but one strain of B. mori differed a single nucleotide (0.2%) from others. MtDNA homogeneity in the B. mori strains appears to be resulted from fixation into the mast frequent mtDNA type during the course of breeding for new strains, in which an extensive indoor rearing and removal of unwanted individuals were accompanied. In the comparisons between domestic and wild silkworms, some wild silkworms were closely related to domestic silkworms (0.2%-1.2% of divergence), but the others were not (2.7%-3.7% of sequence divergence). This result was also reflected in the phylogenetic analyses, showing two independent phylogenetic groups: one including all B. mandarina sequences and the other including both B. mandarina and B. mori sequences. Thus, domestic silkworms may have been derived from the ancestor of B. mandarina, which belongs to this group, alto-ough more extensive study will provide better understanding on this issue.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.49-55
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• 2012

We previously isolated 9 clones that show stronger signal compared to B. mori cytoplasmic actin gene (BmA3) by using a dot blot hybridization. In this study, we focused on one clone among these clones which has high amino acid homology with elongation factor ${\alpha}$ gene of B. mori. This clone, named $bEF1{\alpha}$ (B. mori elongation factor ${\alpha}$) was ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and developmental stage of B. mori. As result of promoter assay using dual luciferase assay system, we found the highest transcription activity region (-702/+38) in the 5'-flanking region of $bEF1{\alpha}$ gene, which has about 20 fold more intensive promoter activity than BmA3 promoter. Moreover, the $bEF1{\alpha}$ promoter was normally regulated in Bm5, Sf9, and S2 cells. Therefore, we suggest that $bEF1{\alpha}$ promoter may be used more powerful and effectively for transgene expression in various insects containing B. mori as a universal promoter.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.22-28
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• 2019

We previously isolated 9 clones that show stronger signal compared to Bombyx mori cytoplasmic actin gene (BmA3) by using a dot blot hybridization. In this study, we focused on one clone among these clones which has high amino acid similarity with ${\beta}$-tubulin gene of B. mori. This clone was ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and developmental stage of B. mori. As result of promoter assay using dual luciferase assay system, we found the highest transcription activity region (-750/-1) in the 5'-flanking region of ${\beta}$-tubulin gene, which has about 47 fold more intensive promoter activity than BmA3 promoter. Moreover, the ${\beta}$-tubulin promoter was normally regulated in Bm5, Sf9, and S2 cells. Therefore, we suggest that ${\beta}$-tubulin promoter may be used more powerful and effectively for transgene expression in various insects containing B. mori as a universal promoter.