• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 1997.06a
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• pp.133-158
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• 1997

Since 1992, Sericulture & Entomology Research Institute(NSERI) and Kyung Hee University group screened an activity of lowering blood-glucose levels with silkworm related materials such as silkworm larvae powder, dried feces, pupae and silkworm moth in other to guide laymans to rational and educated utilization of silkworm-related materials for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. In experiments examining several silkworms in different stages and prepared in different conditions, a freeze dried silkworm powder of 5th instar 3rd day showed a higher glucose lowering activity about 20% than heat dried matured silkworm powder. Among the three dosage of 500mg, 830mg and 1,160mg in ate preliminary clinical trial, the 830mg exhibited a significant effect on postprandial blood glucose level and did and did not cause any hypoglycemic side effect. In the blood glucose lowering activity of mulberry and silkworm varieties, the Yongcheonppong and Samkwangjam showed the highest activity for lowering blood glucose levels. In experiments to see the difference in blood-glucose lowering activity between either male and female or larvae and pupae, activity of larvae was higher than that of pupae and the male was higher than female. The heating dry and artificial diet showed lower than mulberry diet and normal freeze dry of the 5th instar 3rd day. Among the sericultural products, larvae showed the highest activity. We find out the fact that effect of silkworm powder attributed to the inhibition of ${\alpha}$-glucohydrolase catalyzed reaction in the small intestine.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.9
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• pp.39-42
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• 1969

As a result of comparaing contained Phosphorus in silkworm blood with growth of silkworm bod, the following facts have been found according to the respective feeds in the 5th stage of rearing silkworm. 1) Contained Inorganic Phosphorus has more increased in the soft leaves part on the 4 th day after 5th stage but no change has been seem in the other parts. 2) Contained organgic phosphorus and total phosphorus has more increased in soft leaves part on the 4th or 5 th day after 5 th stage and they have more increased according to the growing stage. 3) Contained inorganic phosphorus, organic phosphorus and total phosphorus have decreased in the disease silkworm part according to the growing stage. 4) The increase of contained phosphorus in the silkworm blood has had a close relation with increase of weight of silkworm body.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2000

Experiments related to the field of sericulture started in the years 1900, in Korea. The sericultural experimental station in Korea was first organized among agricultural fields in Korea, indicating that sericulture in Korea was regarded as an important field of agriculture. Sericulture has been devoted to a great deal for the improvement of Korean economy during the past 100 years even under the coarse social circumstances caused particularly by the Korean War, However, the traditional Korean sericulture, aimed to produce silk yarn, was weakened, because of several reasons such as diminishment in silk consumption, increased labor charge in Korea, and so on. After this difficulty time, the Korean sericulture was revolutionized by shifting into functional sericulture from 1995, and the Korean sericulture now plays an important role for the improvement of human health. Mulberry tree, silkworm, and silk have a boundless potential to be developed as resources. We expect the know-how obtained through silkworm research would expand to the other insect research too. Thus, an area of entomological industry is hoped to prosper owing to insect research as well as sericulture. Mulberry tree is known to possess many bio-active substances, so it can be utilized as a resource for substitute medicine and a raw material for the functional food. In addition, an invention of genetically engineered mulberry variety, which will produce more bioactive substances, is expected. Silkworm is one of the most extensively studied insect organisms on the genome so far, Thus, silkworm is expected to be an "insect bio-factory", enabling mass-production of useful proteins by transformation, in which useful foreign genes are assimilated into silkworm. Silk can be transformed into several phases, because it possesses useful functional groups, which are sensitive to chemical reaction. Also, because silk fibrin itself is protein, it has a superior applicability as tissue membrane. Due to this usefulness, many researchers are now working on the silk as food, cosmetic, medical resource, and bioengineering resource, and even an expanded application is expected using silk in the future. Until now, the researches on insects were largely focused on the prevention of the damage caused by pest, instead of a beneficial aspect. However, insects are thought to be the fourth natural resource in the world, possessing unlimited potential as world resources in the near future. Therefore, our entomological research effort should be focused on the subject with potential for industrialization. Such subject includes selecting the insect species useful for environmental evaluation, construction of environment-friendly agricultural ecosystem, pollen mediation, pet, and advanced bio-resources.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.25-27
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• 2006

[ ${\alpha}-Glycosidase$ ] inhibitors slows the velocity of the uptake of monosaccharides in the small intestine by retarding the speed of degradation of disaccharides to monosaccharides, which made it possible to develop ${\alpha}-glycosidase$ inhibitors as the antihyperglycemic ('antihyperglycemic' means 'blood-glucose-level-lowering') reagent for the diabetic patients such as acarbose and miglitol. Twenty kinds of ${\alpha}-glycosidase$ inhibitors have been reported to exist in mulberry, Morns alba, and some of them are also found in the silkworm, Bombyx mari, as the result of its daily feeding of mulberry leaves as the sole diet. 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), one of the most potent ${\alpha}-glycosidase$ inhibitor, is the most abundant among polyhydroxylated alkaloids with ${\alpha}-glycosidase$ inhibiting activity in both M alba and B. mari, therefore considered the antihyperglycemic criterion of the mulberry- or silkworm-based neutroceutical products. DNJ is thought to be accumulated in the body of silkworm because the its concentration in the silkworm body is two to three times as much as that in the mulberry leaves. Eighteen silkworm F1 varieties have been recommended for industrial rearing in Korea by some standards such as pathological strength. DNJ concentration in 18 recommendedwere measured at 3rd day in the 5th instar after lyophilization to determine the varieties that accumulates DNJ in its body most. GeumOk-Jam was the highest in the DNJ concentration of 5.45 mg/gDW among the recommended F1 varieties.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

Quality of seed in the mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori (L.) is determined by many important factors, wherein unfertilized eggs play an important role. Unfertilization of eggs are caused by several reasons such as, abnormality in the sexual organs of the male and female, abnormal development of the micropylar end of the egg, unfavorable environmental conditions during spinning, cocoon preservation, imperfect handling of moths, mating, ovipostion, cold storing of pupae / moths and indiscriminate use of male moths etc. Though the presence of unfertilized eggs would in no way affect the fertilized ones and their quality directly, the frequency of their occurrence underrates the quality and brings down the hatching percentage. Lower the occurrence of unfertilized eggs, higher is the rating of seed quality. Of the various intrinsic and extrinsic factors and events involved in egg deposition of an adult silk moth, mating is an instinct and a biological obligation for the ultimate perpetuation of the species and a must to provide stimulus for oogenesis and bring about biochemical changes in the spermatophore of the silkworm in order to ensure the presence of sufficient number of normal sperms and testicular fluid in the female reproductive organ, activating ovulation and accelerating oviposition behavior and egg deposition. An attempt has been made in this article to briefly elucidate the characteristics of unfertilized eggs, causes of their occurrence and its impact as well as the significance in silkworm seed production.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.155-164
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• 2009

The most important factors in environment that influence the physiology of insects are temperature and humidity. Insects display a remarkable range of adaptations to changing environments and maintain their internal temperature (thermoregulation) and water content within tolerable limits, despite wide fluctuations in their surroundings. Adaptation is a complex and dynamic state that widely differs in species. Surviving under changing environment in insects depends on dispersal, habitat selection, habitat modification, relationship with ice and water, resistance to cold, diapause and developmental rate, sensitivity to environmental signals and syntheses of variety of cryoprotectant molecules. The mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori) is very delicate and sensitive to environmental fluctuations and unable to survive naturally because of their domestication since ancient times. Thus, the adaptability to environmental conditions in the silkworm is quite different from those of wild insects. Temperature, humidity, air circulation, gases and photoperiod etc. shows a significant interaction in their effect on the physiology of silkworm depending upon the combination of factors and developmental stage affecting growth, development, productivity and quality of silk. An attempt has been made in this article to briefly discuss adaptation in insects with special emphasis on the role of environmental factors and their fluctuations and its significance in the physiology of mulberry silkworm, B. mori.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.8-12
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• 1981

Practical application of silkworm artificial diet is very desirable to save labour in sericultural industry as the problem of labour shortage is becoming serious in Korea. However, silkworms reared on the artificial diet are more susceptible to viruses than those reared on mulberry leaves because of the lower anti-viral activity of gut juice of silkworms grown on artificial diet compared with that of silkworms grown on mulberry leaves. In this study, authors investigated the varietal difference of silkworm larvae, Bombyx mori L., reared on artificial diet which contained 20 percent of dried mulberry powder, in the susceptibility to nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV). The results showed that there is no difference in susceptibility to NPV among tested varieties when high concentration of NPV was admitted to silkworm larvae, but varietal difference appeared in lower concentration admitted. Among 7 hybrids tested, Hansaeng 1${\times}$Hansaeng 2 was most resistant to NPV with an $LC_{50}$ of 2.7${\times}$10$\^$6/ and Jam 111${\times}$Jam 112 was also more resistant comparatively than other hybrids.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2015

This study was carried out to develop the silkworm rearing technique in unused mulberry leaves after harvesting mulberry fruit. The growth of Gwasang No. 2 and Suhyang was very good compared to control cultivar Chungil in leaves size and new branch growth, but new branch and leaves of Daeshim was similar or small to control cultivar Chungil. The number of leaves of Gwasang No. 2 and Suhyang was lower than Chungil, but weight of leaves per tree was heavyer than Chungil. Mulberry leaf yield was Gwasang No. 2 521 kg/10a, Suhyang 189 kg/10a, Daeshim 73 kg/10a, Chungil 1,095 kg/10a. Content of mineral element of all three mulberry cultivars leaf for mulberry fruit production was higher than Chungil in N, P, K, Ca etc. Feeding quantity of silkworm of Gwasang No. 2 and Suhyang was much more than Chungil. Feeding quantity was highest at Suhyang in 96 kg/box. Growth duration of silkworm larvae was not different in all four mulberry culivars but weight of silkworms (5th instar 3rd day) was heavy at Gwasang No. 2 (2.07 g/head) and Suhyang (2.11 g/head) compared to control cultivar Chungil (1.92 g/head). Mortality of silkworms was 14.6% (Gwasang No. 2), 13.3% (Suhyang), 13.9% (Daesim), 12.6% (Chungil) and than higher at elder instar stage. The production amount of silkworm (5th instar 3rd day) was 35.4 kg/box (Gwasang No. 2), 36.6 kg/box (Suhyang), 35.0 kg/box (Daeshim), 33.6 kg/ box (Chungil). Amount of possible rearing silkworms was estimated 3.4box/10 a (Gwasang No. 2), 1.3box/10a (Suhyang), 0.5box/10a (Daeshim), 8.7box/10a (Chungil).

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.2
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• pp.1-31
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• 1962

The purpose of this treatise is to prove the presence of cystine in silk fiber through wide sampling throughout all the sericultural processes of Bombyx mori.; also to show that disulfide cross linkages exist in the silk fiber. The conclusions reached were as follows: 1. Crystalline cystine was obtained from silk fibroin using Folin's Method. 2. Analytical data showing the cystine content of silk fiber and its related materials were obtained using Sullvan's Method as follows: Material Percent Cystine A. Mulberry leaf protein 0.175 B. Silkworm egg 0.33 C. Silkworm Body, matured, fat extracted, without silk gland 0.41 D. Silk gland, matured 1.23 E. Silkworm feces none F. Silkworm pupa, fat extracted 0.30 G. Silkworm moth, fat extracted 0.60 H. Raw Silk 0.22 I. Fibroin 0.175 J. Sericin 0.30 3. The presence of cystine in the silkworm was substantiated the existence of 0.175 % methionine in mulberry leaves and 0.12% methionine in the silk gland. 4. Part of the sulfhydryl compounds in the silk gland is believed to transfer to serine and methionine, with the former being secreted into the liquid silk finally as silk fiber and the latter used for nutritive purposes in the growing of silk gland tissue. 5. The cystine content is variable by mulberry species, silkworm species, sex, breeding process, and other culturing environments. 6. Hybrid silkworms require more nutritive amino acids for effective growth than the original parents, and secrete less of them as silk fiber. 7. From such an observation, the amino acid composition of silk fiber is believed to be fairly flexible. Cystine if included in the amorphous part of the fiber, especially in sericin. 8. The result from enriching the silkworm diet with pure cystine or wool cystine did not result in any advantage, therefore it is believed that the natural cystine and methionine contents in the mulberry leafaregoodenoughforsilkwormnutrition. 9. The disulfide cross linkage in silk fiber was verified by using the Harris Method. Contraction took place following the treatment of the fiber with various salts and acids. Comparisons were made with wool fiber. 10. During these experiments, the fibrious structure of silk fiber and the net-globular liquid form were photographed microscopically. It is believed that the globules of liquid silk are net-formed by the inter attraction of the OH ion of the globular peptide and the H ion of water as shown by the hair cracking behavior of the film. The net-globular protein precipitation from the mulberry protein solution showed that mulberry is a proper diet for the formation of fibrous protein in the silk fiber. 11. The significance of the presence of cystine in silk fiber as emphasized in this paper should result in modification of the general conception that cystine is absent from this fiber. NOTICE: A part of this treatise was presented at the annual Korea Sericultural Society meeting held in 1961.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.26-31
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• 1978

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of nicotine-contaminated mulberry-leaf, which was grown in the vicinity of tobacco drying plant (TDP), on cocoon crop. Mulberry-leaf harvested from the field at Sericultural Experiment Station (SES), Suweon, Korea, was used as control, supposedly nicotine-free leaf. Leaf harvested from the field in the distances of 30-50m, 300-400m and 700-800m from TDP was fed during the whole larval stage of the silkworm at. SES. The effect of leaf in each treatment level on the quantitative characters of the silkworm was summarized as follows; 1. Larval duration from 4th instar on was significantly longer in the TDP-leaf treatments than for the control. 2. Duration of matured silkworm appearance became longer as the distance of the mulberry-field from TDP got shorter, because the larval duration and growth of the silkworm were not uniform in the TDP-leaf treatments. 3. Mortality rates during the late larval, cocoon spinning, and pupal stages were highest for the 30-50m leaf, especially mortality rates during the late larval and pupal stage were serious. 4. Pupation rate was lowest for the 30-50m leaf and those for the 300-400m and the 700-800m leaf were not significantly different from that of the control. 5. Nicotine damage to cocoon weight and cocoon shell weight was significant in each TDP-leaf level. Cocoon shell ratio was reduced at the same extent in each level, compared with the control. 6. The ratio among cocoon-classes was significantly different between treatments, compared with best-cocoon ratio of 87.1% for the control. Cocoons were not uniform for the 30-50m leaf, and those for the 300-400m and the 700-800m leaf were as almost uniform as those for the control. 7. Loss of fresh cocoon yield became greater as the distance of the mulberry-field from the TDP-got shorter. In conclusion, the critical distance of mulberry-field, which influences larval health, cocoon quality and yield, appeared to be 800m from the TDP. Such other factors as wind direction and topographic location may be involved in the critical distance. 8. From the present experiment, we could obtain only the effect of nicotine on the silkworm through digestive system, since the silkworm was raised at SES in Suweon. If the silkworm.. were raised in the vicinity of the TDP, poison effect of nicotine on the silkworm could beo expected through exoskeleton and tracheal system as well as through digestive system.