Fertility and hatching of the vit mutant eggs in Bombyx mori

The vit (scanty vitellin) eggs of Bombyx mori deposited by the females homozygous for the mutation were investigated for the manifestation of inherited characteristics. Mutant eggs produced by vit/vit ovaries were white in color due to the lack of yolk proteins. These eggs could be fertilized and grown to the final stage of embryogenesis but did not hatch and died, irrespective of whether the genotype of embryo was homozygous or heterozygous for the vit gene. Mating experiments showed that the trait of yolk color was transmitted in a manner of pseudo-maternal inheritance, whereas the character of embryonic lethality was manifested following a mode of maternal inheritance.