• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.115-126
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• 2015

The tropical climate prevailing in India adversely affects temperate bivoltine silkworm rearing and causes crop loss especially during summer. Identification of high temperature tolerant bivoltine breeds by screening for thermotolerance in the silkworm, Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) is an essential prerequisite for the development of thermotolerant bivoltine breeds / hybrids. Therefore, in this study, 20 silkworm breeds were reared at different temperatures (25 ± 1℃,32 ± 1℃, 34 ± 1℃ and 36 ± 1℃) for 6 h every day from 3^rd d of 5^th instar to till spinning. Significant differences (p < 0.01) were found among all the rearing traits over temperature. Based on pupation percentage, SK4C and BHR3 were identified as thermotolerant bivoltine breeds. Hierarchical clustering analysis based on rearing traits at tested temperatures grouped 20 silkworm breeds in four clusters which included one cluster each of susceptible and tolerant, and two clusters of moderately tolerant silkworm breeds. This suggests that clustering based on rearing data at high temperatures by using Euclidean distance can be an effective approach in classifying the silkworm breeds on their thermotolerance capacity. The identified breeds would be used for development of thermo tolerant bivoltine silkworm breeds / hybrids.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.37-44
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• 2021

Mulberry silkworm is classified into uni, bi and multivoltine based on the frequency of diapause incidence. The variation in the incidence of diapause in bivoltine silkworm provides a unique opportunity to study the process of evolution of adaptive plasticity towards seasonal variations. The diapause expression in bivoltine silkworm is highly variable and is determined by environmental factors experienced by the maternal generation. Diapause in natural populations is functionally associated with the overwintering mechanism that facilitates survival in harsh winter conditions. In contrast, under standard commercial rearing conditions, the domesticated bivoltine silkworm is known to enter diapause in every generation. This paper presents a short review of the literature dealing with the role of temperature, photoperiod, diapause hormone and its receptor in diapause induction. Also, we briefly review the incidence of non-diapause eggs in bivoltine silkworm under controlled conditions.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2009

Sericulturists in the vicinity of Bangalore city irrigate their mulberry gardens with Vrishabhavathy stream water, which is polluted with domestic and industrial wastes from the city. To investigate the effect of pollutants on silkworm crops, a detailed field survey was conducted to study the cocoon yield pattern of the crops raised on mulberry irrigated with wastewater as against irrigation by bore/open wells. The villages along the stream were grouped into five test batches at about a distance of $5{\sim}8$ km from each other. The seasonal yield data with relevant information were collected through questionnaires from 117 rearers using stream water and 35 rearers using bore/open wells, the latter serving as control group. The average yield for 100 layings was 46 to 57 kg in the control group whereas in test groups, it ranged between 34 to 51 kg in the first test group and 22 to 38 kg in the rest. The difference in yield was $9{\sim}19$ kg depending on the season between control and test batches. In summer, this difference was higher, with high co-efficient of variation in test groups ($33{\sim}52$%). Further, water, soil and leaf samples were collected from selected rearers and were analyzed for zinc, copper, iron, lead and nickel. Results indicated significantly higher contents of these metals in samples from gardens using wastewater when compared control samples. Significantly (p<0.05 & p<0.01)) higher levels of zinc ($24{\sim}122$ ppm) and iron ($208{\sim}683$ ppm) were noticed in mulberry leaves during summer followed by winter and rainy season. The significance of high content of heavy metals in mulberry leaves and cocoon yield pattern of this area in relation to the quality of irrigation water is discussed.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.20-30
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• 1987

In the hemolymph proteins of the silkworm reared with mulberry leaves and artificial diet, electrophoretic patterns of Storege Protein 1 (SP1) and Vitellogenin(VG), changes of relative concentration of SP1, JHA effects during the developmental stages, and estimation of the molecular weight of vitellin subunits were investigated in the present study. 1. Storage Protein 1 (SP1) showed female specificity from the middle stage of the fifth instar to the end of spinning stage in the silkworm reared with mulberry leaves and artificial diet. 2. Vitellogenin (VG) showed female specififcity just afrter pupation in the silkworm reared with mulberry leaves and artificial diet. 3. Storage Protein 2 (SP2) without female specificity was detected from the early stage of the fifth instar to the first or second day after pupation. 4. Vitellin was composed of two non-identical subunits (vitellin-heavy chain ; VTL-H, vitellinlight chain ; VTL-L) with mplecular weight of 186,000 and 41,000. Also, there were no differenes between the molecular weights of vitellin subunits obtained from silkworms reared with mulberry leaves and artificial diet. 5. Relative concentration of Storage Protein 1 (SP1) after topical application - 0.5, and 10$\mu\textrm{g}$ per body weight - JHA on the 60th hour of the fifth instar showed the highest increase with the treatment of 5$\mu\textrm{g}$ and a higher increase with the treatment of 10$\mu\textrm{g}$ compared with the control (no topical application of JHA).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 1984

The present study was aimed to investigate persistence of dichlorvos EC, fenitrothion EC, fenthion EC, and phenthoate EC in and on mulberry leaves with special reference to silkworm mortality and cocoon production under greenhouse condition. The halflives of fenitrothion, fenthion, and phenthoate in and on mulberry leaves were ranged from two to three days, while that of dichlorvos was less than 9 hours. The insecticide residues in and on mulberry leaves persisted longer in spring cropping season than in autumn cropping season. Elapsed periods from last application of each insecticide to leaf harvest for silkworm feed and maximum residue limits for safe cocoon production as well as relations between insecticide residues in and on mulberry leaves and silkworm mortality were produced.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.150-160
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• 2012

The object of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of mulberry leaves and silkworm excreta ethanol extracts on weight performances, blood characteristics, cecal microflorae of chickens. Two hundred forty male broiler chicks(Ross) were fed diets for five weeks containing 0.1%(MLA) and 1%(MLB) of mulberry leaves ethanol extracts, and 0.1%(SEA) and 1%(SEB) of silkworm excreta ethanol extracts. Weight performance did show no significant difference in all test groups which were fed with supplementation of mulberry leaves and silkworm excreta ethanol extracts. They showed better weight gain and feed conversion than the negative control group which was fed only with forage without antibiotics. ABTS(2'-azine-bis[3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid]) test was conducted to investigate free radical scavenging activity of blood in tested groups. ABTS scavenging activities of tested groups were higher than control groups in significant level, though there was no significant difference(P = 0.396). Specifically, MLB group showed the highest scavenging activity. Blood-level concentration of MDA, which is an indicator of lipid peroxidation, was also decreased in tested groups and the lowest level was observed in SEA(P = 0.001). As storage time increased at $4^{\circ}C$, muscle-level MDA concentrations of all tested groups were generally increased and significant difference was obsereved between tested groups and controls in total increase of MDA concentration($P=4.417{\times}10^{-3}$). In cecal microflorae, SEA and SEB showed decreased total microbe population compared to NC($P=6.462{\times}10^{-5}$) and even to PC. Supplementation of mulberry leave and silkworm excreta ethanol extract did show a similar inhibition effect against Salmonella sp., furthermore, MLB did enhanced the growth of Lactobacillus sp.($P=3.636{\times}10^{-7}$). In summary, ethanol extract of silkworm excreta may be a potential alternative of antibiotics for chicks. In addition, both of ethanol extracts supplementation to broiler chicks would be very useful not only to improve antioxidant effect of blood but also to suppress lipid peroxidation without any loss of weight performance in poultry farming.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.56-62
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• 2020

Mulberry (Morus spp. family: Moraceae) has prime importance in the sericulture industry, and its foliage is the only natural feed of the silkworm Bombyx mori L. Traditional classification methods using morphological traits were largely unsuccessful in assessing the diversity and relationships among different mulberry species because of environmental influences on the traits of interest. For these reasons, it is difficult to differentiate between the varieties and cultivars of Morus spp. In the present study, inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to investigate the genetic diversity of 48 mulberry samples genotyped using nine ISSR primers. The ISSR markers exhibited polymorphisms (53.2%) among mulberry genotypes. Furthermore, similarity coefficient estimated for these ISSR markers was found to vary between 0.67 and 0.99 for the combined pooled data. The phenogram drawn using the UPGMA cluster method based on combined pooled data of the ISSR markers divided the 48 mulberry genotypes into seven major groups. No genetic association was found in the collection area, and there was a mixed pattern between the mulberry lines. The hybridization between different mulberry species is highly likely to be homogenized due to natural hybridization.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2000

Strengthening of R & D components of sericulture in India since the sixties has led to a quantum jump in silk production and presently India is the second largest producer in the world. This achievement is primarily due to a number of breakthroughs in R & D to match the requirements of tropics, by way of introduction of improved mulberry varieties and silkworm breeds, better mulberry cultivation and rearing management practices suited to tropical conditions. Of late, new approaches in molecular biology and biotechnology have also been vigorously pursued to strengthen the current conventional strategies. The present paper attempts to provide an overview of the present status of silk production in both mulberry and non-mulberry sectors, breakthroughs achieved through new approaches of biotechnology and the future prospects for maximizing silk productivity in India.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.83-86
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• 2003

Mulberry plantations are prone to several kinds of insect pests including the thrips, Pesudodendrothrips mori. The thrips infestation affects the qualitative and quantitative characters of mulberry leaf, which in turn affects the silkworm cocoon crop. In the present study, four commercial insecticides viz., Rogor, Quinalphos, Confidor and Methyl parathion were tested for their efficacy in the control of P. mori thrips. These insecticides were observed to kill 68-80％ within 24 hrs in vivo and 100％ after 12 hrs post-treatment in vitro. Confidor (0.05％) and Quinalphos (0.2％) were most effective in controlling the thrips incidence. The insecticide-sprayed mulberry leaves did not show any adverse effect on the rearing of silkworms.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.131-134
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• 2002

Mulberry being the only food of silkworm, Bombyx mori L., is of great economic importance to the silk industry, The success in cocoon production mainly depends on the supply of quality leaves in sufficient quantity. In mulberry, where the economic product is leaf, the uptake of nitrogen from soil is very heavy and high responses to application of nutrients have been reported. Nitrogen supports vegetative growth particularly the leaf biomass. Variation in nitrogen harvest index and other physiological and yield contributing traits were estimated in five mulberry genotypes. Considerable variation was observed for nitrogen harvest index, protein yield per plant and harvest index. The correlation studies indicated the protein yield per plant was significantly correlated with leaf yield, nitrogen content in leaf, nitrogen harvest index and harvest index. The broad sense heritability estimates revealed that harvest index showed highest heritability (88.07%) followed by nitrogen content (82.52%), protein yield (70.28%) and nitrogen harvest index (66.52%).