Abstract

Simple SummaryNosema bombycis(N. bombycis), an obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasite, is a virulent pathogen of the silkworm, that causes major economic losses. Although many studies have reported onB. morihost response to this pathogen, little is known about which genes are induced byN. bombycis. Our results showed that twoB. moriuridine diphosphate-glucosyltransferases (UGTs) (BmUGT10295 and BmUGT8453) could be activated byN. bombycisand provide resistance to the microsporidia in silkworms. These results will contribute to our understanding of host stress reaction to pathogens and the two pathogen-induced resistant genes will provide a target for promoting pathogen resistance.AbstractAs a silkworm pathogen, the microsporidianN. bombyciscan be transovarially transmitted from parent to offspring and seriously impedes sericulture industry development. Previous studies found that Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are involved in regulating diverse cellular processes, such as detoxification, pigmentation, and odorant sensing. Our results showed thatBmUGT10295andBmUGT8453genes were specifically induced in infected silkworms, but other BmUGTs were not. Tissue distribution analysis of the two BmUGTs showed that the transcriptions of the two BmUGTs were mainly activated in the midgut and Malpighian tubule of infected silkworms. Furthermore, there were significantly fewer microsporidia in over-expressed BmUGTs compared with the control, but there were significantly more microsporidia in RNA interference BmUGTs compared with the control. These findings indicate that the two BmUGTs were induced byN. bombycisand provided resistance to the microsporidia.Keywords:Bombyx mori;innate immunity;UDP-glucosyltransferase;induced expression