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- Title
Effect of TiO Nanoparticles on the Reproduction of Silkworm.
- Authors
Ni, Min; Li, Fanchi; Wang, Binbin; Xu, Kaizun; Zhang, Hua; Hu, Jingsheng; Tian, Jianghai; Shen, Weide; Li, Bing
- Abstract
Silkworm ( Bombyx mori) is an important economic insect and the model insect of Lepidoptera. Because of its high fecundity and short reproduction cycle, it has been widely used in reproduction and development research. The high concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO NPs) show reproductive toxicity, while low concentrations of TiO NPs have been used as feed additive and demonstrated significant biological activities. However, whether the low concentrations of TiO NPs affect the reproduction of B. mori has not been reported. In this study, the growth and development of gonad of B. mori fed with a low concentration of TiO NPs (5 mg/L) were investigated by assessing egg production and expression of reproduction-related genes. The results showed that the low concentration of TiO NPs resulted in faster development of the ovaries and testes and more gamete differentiation and formation, with an average increase of 51 eggs per insect and 0.34 × 10 g per egg after the feeding. The expressions of several reproduction-related genes were upregulated, such as the yolk-development-related genes Ovo-781 and vitellogenin ( Vg) were increased by 5.33- and 6.77-folds, respectively. This study shows that TiO NPs feeding at low concentration can enhance the reproduction of B. mori, and these results are useful in developing new methods to improve fecundity in B. mori and providing new clues for its broad biological applications.
- Subjects
SILKWORM diseases; NANOPARTICLES; LEPIDOPTEROLOGY; BIOMACROMOLECULES; FEED additives
- Publication
Biological Trace Element Research, 2015, Vol 164, Issue 1, p106
- ISSN
0163-4984
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12011-014-0195-1