Comparison of gloverin gene expression patterns between domesticated and wild silkworms

Bombyx mandarina is widely accepted as ancestor of B. mori . Silkworms are served as well-characterized models for understanding the mechanism for the genetic regulation of development. In this study, we performed RNA-Seq analysis to examine tissue-expression of gloverin isoforms of the silk-gland, mid-gut, and fat body in B. mandarina . BLAST analysis revealed that four gloverin isoform gene sequences of B. mandarina were highly similar to B. mori. To identify the difference between two species, the expression profile of gloverin was measured by semi- RT-PCR analysis. The specific expression of gloverin isoform genes was observed mainly in the fat body from B. mori but not B. mandarina . However, all of tissues in the wild-type silkworm could induce the upregulation of compared with the B. mori. To validate the sudden increase in gloverin gene expression in the mid-gut tissue of B. mandarina , we were using qRT-PCR. Relative mRNA expression rate of gloverin at the wild-type silkworm was much higher than domestic silkworm. Comparative genomics between domesticated and wild silkworms showed different tissue-expression levels in some of immune related genes. These results are suggesting a trend toward decreasing immunity related genes expression during domestication. Further studies are needed to elucidate the silkworm domestication and an invaluable resource for wild silkworm genomics research. KCI Citation Count: 1