Thermo-tolerance of silkworm Bombyx mori : The Role of HSP19.9 and HSP20.8 Genes in Mitigating Thermal Stress

Moustafa, Marwa Nabil; Mohamed, Shereen Abdel-Hameed; Elyamani, Enas Moustafa

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2025.353777.11185

Thermo-tolerance of silkworm Bombyx mori : The Role of HSP19.9 and HSP20.8 Genes in Mitigating Thermal Stress

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ sericultural research department, Plant Protection Institute, Agricultural research center

² Microbial Genetics, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

³ Sericulture Department. Agricultural Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/ejchem.2025.353777.11185

Abstract

silkworms are the sole producers of silk, relying exclusively on mulberry leaves for nourishment. Climatic variations during their feeding phase can lead to thermal stress, which negatively impacts the vitality of the silkworms that directly related to the silk production on a global scale. Therefore, it was crucial to choose a resilient hybrid that can adapt to these environmental shifts, with the selection process focused on its capacity to withstand increasing temperatures.The study's findings demonstrated that B. mori larvae exhibited a remarkable increase in the activation of genes HSP-19.9, and 20.8 reponsible for heat shock protien, rising about 294%, and 339% after five hours of heat exposure at 40ºC during the second day of the fourth larval instar. Furthermore, the degree of expression of HSP-20.8 gene were notably higher than the other gene HSP-19.9.

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