1/15/2024 0 Comments Mori bombyxIt is recorded that CTL-fed silkworms have a long history and have been traced back to the Chinese ancient lexicon “Erh-ya”. As an oligophagous insect, silkworms mainly feed on mulberry leaves belonging to the Moraceae plant family but can also feed on Cudrania tricuspidata leaves (CTLs) 14 of the same family. The silkworm, Bombyx mori, belonging to Lepidoptera, Bombycidae, as one of the oldest economic insects for silk production, has been widely cultured in the long history of sericulture in China 13. It was revealed that the beneficial interactions between insects and their gut microbiota achieve detoxification for hosts. For instance, pinewood nematode or pine weevil are insect herbivores reared on conifer forests rich in toxic terpenoids, such as α-pinene and diterpene acid, whose gut microbiota exhibit a strong ability to degrade terpenoids to contribute to insect fitness 11, 12. Among these factors, the intestinal microbiota plays important roles in defence and protection for insects 7, 10. The above detoxification events were initiated by insect ATP-Binding Cassette transporters 5, intestinal microbes 6, 7, or even horizontal gene transfer 8, 9. In nature, plants defend themselves from herbivores by producing toxic metabolites, while herbivores evolved the mechanisms to resist plant defences in adaptation to overcoming toxic feeding 1 by metabolic detoxification, including the destruction 2, hydrolysis 3, phosphorylation and glycosylation 4 of the toxic components. Consequently, this study provides meaningful guidance for silk production by improving the adaptability of CTL-fed silkworms. Additionally, adding Bacillus subtilis as a probiotic to remodel the gut microbiota could beneficially promote silkworm growth and development. Here, we show that the high content of prenylated isoflavones (PIFs) that occurred in CTLs is converted into glycosylated derivatives (GPIFs) in silkworm faeces through the silkworm gut microbiota, and this biotransformation is the key process in PIFs detoxification because GPIFs are found to be much less toxic, as revealed both in vitro and in vivo. However, CTL-fed silkworms are found to have smaller bodies, slower growth and lower silk production than those fed mulberry leaves. The oligophagous silkworm feeds on Cudrania tricuspidata leaves (CTLs) instead of mulberry leaves for the purpose of producing special, high-quality silk. Herbivores have evolved the ability to detoxify feed components through different mechanisms.
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