A serine protease homologue Bombyx mori scarface induces a short and fat body shape in silkworm.
Insect Mol Biol
; 27(3): 319-332, 2018 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29441628
ABSTRACT
Body shape is one of the most prominent and basic characteristics of any organism. In insects, abundant variations in body shape can be observed both within and amongst species. However, the molecular mechanism underlying body shape fine-tuning is very complex and has been largely unknown until now. In the silkworm Bombyx mori, the tubby (tub) mutant has an abnormal short fat body shape and the abdomen of tub larvae expands to form a fusiform body shape. Morphological investigation revealed that the body length was shorter and the body width was wider than that of the Dazao strain. Thus, this mutant is a good model for studying the molecular mechanisms of body shape fine-tuning. Using positional cloning, we identified a gene encoding the serine protease homologue, B. mori scarface (Bmscarface), which is associated with the tub phenotype. Sequence analysis revealed a specific 312-bp deletion from an exon of Bmscarface in the tub strain. In addition, recombination was not observed between the tub and Bmscarface loci. Moreover, RNA interference of Bmscarface resulted in the tub-like phenotype. These results indicate that Bmscarface is responsible for the tub mutant phenotype. This is the first study to report that mutation of a serine protease homologue can induce an abnormal body shape in insects.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Bombyx
/
Proteínas de Insectos
/
Serina Proteasas
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Insect Mol Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
China