20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>

Nutrients needed to fuel the processes of growth, development, and reproduction, and to form the proteins in the cocoon, are derived from the larval stage. The amount of leaf ingested in the fifth instar silkworm larvae accounted for about 85% of the whole instars. Nutrients were absorbed following...

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Main Authors: Jiahao Li, Mulin Xia, Songyao Huang, Guangxie Zhang, Yuncheng Tang, Pingzhen Xu, Meirong Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Insects
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/3/291
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author Jiahao Li
Mulin Xia
Songyao Huang
Guangxie Zhang
Yuncheng Tang
Pingzhen Xu
Meirong Zhang
author_facet Jiahao Li
Mulin Xia
Songyao Huang
Guangxie Zhang
Yuncheng Tang
Pingzhen Xu
Meirong Zhang
author_sort Jiahao Li
collection DOAJ
description Nutrients needed to fuel the processes of growth, development, and reproduction, and to form the proteins in the cocoon, are derived from the larval stage. The amount of leaf ingested in the fifth instar silkworm larvae accounted for about 85% of the whole instars. Nutrients were absorbed following digestion in the digestive tube. We previously reported the successful identification of 227 silkworm larval digestive juice proteins, wherein most of the genes of the identified proteins had high expression features in the midgut, and 30 of them were midgut-specific genes. We chose 30 genes and detected their expression characteristics in the digestive tube, and investigated the developmental expression profiles in the midgut of silkworm larvae from the day-3 fourth instar to the wandering period, as well as the expression dynamics after the 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) treatment. The genes were specifically expressed in the larval digestive tube. The expression of <i>BMSK0013805</i> was activated, and that of the other 29 genes were suppressed by 20E. The ecdysteroid ingestion dramatically suppressed the protease activity in the larval midgut, which revealed that 20E may also directly affect digestive activity. The present study is the first to demonstrate that the expression control mechanism of these genes is primarily hormonal regulation, which contributes to furthering our understanding of the mechanism of the genes expressed in the larval digestive tube during development.
format Article
id doaj-art-af928a8637c54a2c9e7fb2552db15054
institution Kabale University
issn 2075-4450
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
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series Insects
spelling doaj-art-af928a8637c54a2c9e7fb2552db150542025-08-20T03:43:31ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502025-03-0116329110.3390/insects1603029120-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>Jiahao Li0Mulin Xia1Songyao Huang2Guangxie Zhang3Yuncheng Tang4Pingzhen Xu5Meirong Zhang6Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory of Sericultural and Animal Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, ChinaNutrients needed to fuel the processes of growth, development, and reproduction, and to form the proteins in the cocoon, are derived from the larval stage. The amount of leaf ingested in the fifth instar silkworm larvae accounted for about 85% of the whole instars. Nutrients were absorbed following digestion in the digestive tube. We previously reported the successful identification of 227 silkworm larval digestive juice proteins, wherein most of the genes of the identified proteins had high expression features in the midgut, and 30 of them were midgut-specific genes. We chose 30 genes and detected their expression characteristics in the digestive tube, and investigated the developmental expression profiles in the midgut of silkworm larvae from the day-3 fourth instar to the wandering period, as well as the expression dynamics after the 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) treatment. The genes were specifically expressed in the larval digestive tube. The expression of <i>BMSK0013805</i> was activated, and that of the other 29 genes were suppressed by 20E. The ecdysteroid ingestion dramatically suppressed the protease activity in the larval midgut, which revealed that 20E may also directly affect digestive activity. The present study is the first to demonstrate that the expression control mechanism of these genes is primarily hormonal regulation, which contributes to furthering our understanding of the mechanism of the genes expressed in the larval digestive tube during development.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/3/291<i>Bombyx mori</i>digestive tube20-hydroxyecdysonelarval-to-larval moltingwandering
spellingShingle Jiahao Li
Mulin Xia
Songyao Huang
Guangxie Zhang
Yuncheng Tang
Pingzhen Xu
Meirong Zhang
20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
Insects
<i>Bombyx mori</i>
digestive tube
20-hydroxyecdysone
larval-to-larval molting
wandering
title 20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
title_full 20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
title_fullStr 20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
title_full_unstemmed 20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
title_short 20-Hydroxyecdysone Regulates the Expression of 30 Genes Specifically Expressed in Larval Digestive Tube of the Silkworm, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
title_sort 20 hydroxyecdysone regulates the expression of 30 genes specifically expressed in larval digestive tube of the silkworm i bombyx mori i
topic <i>Bombyx mori</i>
digestive tube
20-hydroxyecdysone
larval-to-larval molting
wandering
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16/3/291
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