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An artificial peptide made from a mixture of natural L-amino acids (the right half of the molecule) and non-natural, mirror-image D-amino acids (the left half of the molecule), designed computationally using INCITE » resources.
This peptide is designed to fold into a stable structure which permits scientists to create exciting new functions never explored by natural proteins.
Credit: Vikram Mulligan, University of Washington
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
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Pl ,I invented Ruhel sensor , Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor, Ruhel word converter attach in scanner, Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS, Ruhel New to anti -chemical terror ,Pl I have 75% in Physics 1989 – BSc, 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =www.iupac.org, www.iupac2003.org ,National research council Canada = www.nrc.ca ,Canadian society for chemistry =CSC ,SAM-2006 , www.dhs.gov ,… Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award , ,Pl I am Indian minority +OBCs=Other backward class - scientist ! ,Pl I am one of the reviewer in J . Schizophrenia Research ( www. elsevier.com) from May 2007 . Please recently in 2008 March , my one paper=Abstract got selected in prime conference of royal society of chemistry =www.rsc.org/arf08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008=concern Anti terror .and sensor .
Note : Please I am getting (1) Complimentary NASA Magazine= NASA Tech Briefs = digital edition = NASA’s best new inventions , ,FROM COMSOL = jukka@comsol.com (2) Defense Tech Briefs= digital edition . Also from COMSOL ,from past 2.5 years (3) Aerospace Manufacturing and Design electronic edition ,from Feb- 2009 . Its gift from Melody Berendt Circulation Director ,it have inside technology of Airplane ,space craft (4) Nature Photonics ,digital edition from nature publication group ,from past 2.0 years . these all are gift to my scientific brain , from these groups =www.comsol.com +NPG =Nature.com ,they know about above Resume =my scientific career , future .my real life social science case . , Ruhel date 05-02-2009 Udaipur –Raj India .
Note : Pl ,I was facing continuous -forced unemployed ness+ high –torture, discrimination +forced virgin =no sex !! ,from Feb. 2003 to till 22 Jan 2008 ! =continuous 5 years in India and , I was kept forced unemployed ,from 1999 to 2001 = continuous 3 =three years forced unemployed ,=Total =8 Years forced unemployed ,torture ,discrimination , please even I have ~10 years vast experience as analytical chemist =chemistry , pl I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class - scientist ! , pl I have 75% in physics 1989 – BSc , 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =WWW.IUPAC.ORG, WWW.IUPAC2003.ORG ,PITTCON ,DHS , WWW.RSC.ORG/ARF08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008 =total 16 international level publication,
even Indian was not given me UN jobs it self ?? pl my UN JOBS , IDS=rchisty90 , ,even I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class scientist. we are facing harassment in our birth nation =Hindu democratic nation ,then ME=GULF countries also !! to get progress , career , prospects in USA ,EUROPE , from India and me… please if I can not got job in USA ,EUROPE ,from India ,ME=GULF , then who !!???????? from past 8 years !!???? while sir you check how many Indian have publications against Al-Quida and Taliban !!?? even its from DRDO , BPRO , IITs ,IISC ,IAS ,IPS ,Indian foreign service !!!?? while my first publication against al-Quida was in 2003 at IUPAC =www.iupac.org !!
while Indian government providing Z-Security =Commando ,to Hindu terror ,people =Like Ashok Singhal , Praveen Togadia, LK Advani , RamVellas Vadantii these all are from VHP =Vishav Hindu Parisad ,and for each of these Hindu terror ,Indian government is consuming 1.2 Million $ per annum !!?? these all have proven record of provoke to murder ,kill ,riots , genocide ,gang rape with Nuns !!??
Note 3 : Please , I got , recommendation from UN Officials(@Dec 2003 it self ) ,=Alexander.Schmid@undoc.org= Tel:+43-1-26060-4278,+ Fax: +43-1-26060-5968 (sir he is Sr Crime prevention & criminal Justice officer ,to UN ) &MS Haiyan Qian= qianh@un.org & ribeiroa@un.org=recommendation ,at , Sun, 9 May 2004 Tel: 212-963-3393+ Fax: 212-963-9681 (Sir she is UNPAN -Chief manager to department of economic and social affair to UN ) ,& ngls@un.org = Tel: ++ 1 212 963 3125, URL: www.un-ngls.org ,to apply for UN Jobs ,
Ruhel 26-01-2009 , Note ,Please these Z-Security =Commando provider Indian government is India’s so called secular party =Congress party ,from past 5 years of there rule , while BJP =RSS provide them security from past 1990 to 2003 !!=13 years !!?? While BJP=RSS Given MP =Member of parliament ticket to , Manoj Pradhan =Prime accused of 2008 Kandhmal anti christen riots those killed 60 Indian christen ,he is in jail But he given BJP Ticket for 2009 Indian elections from G Udayagiri assembly ,India ,
ADDRESS :-(1st address=Home ): Ruhel Chisty ( MRACI-C.Chem) .23 AA Kishan pole Udaipur –Raj ,India , My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708 ,& Tel: +91-294-2488521 (Home )
Fax :,+91294-2411992 ( attn Ruhel Chistry) My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708
Email: Rchisty84@yahoo.com, Rchisty94@gmail.com,RChisty94@yahoo.com,Rchisty84@gmail.com,rchisty20082@gmail.com,rchisty20081@gmail.com,rchisty84@yahoo.com,
[ Please list of Publications ] :-
(1) New dimension against terrorism (Bio Terrorism &Environmental (A
New Concept)),A new sensor-Ruhel Sensor ,www.iupac.org =www.iupac2003.org
P,21 ( AE-1.P033),:RChisty ,39Th IUPAC Congress and 86th conference of the Canadian society of
Chemistry Aug10-15 ,2003 Ottawa ,Ontario ,Canada
(2) A Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor" This will in series of Ruhel-
sensor @2 ,Which will Detect all Brain Figure , brain hormones, All
brain enzymes .all brain Peptides ,with and with out taking any more
sample ,blood ,of Person , so even Now not required any , MRI,CT
scan ,for all Brain disorder ,and good brain ,for a revolutionary
change in medical science of till today .RChisty Pittcon 2005 ,
(3) Ruhel word converter attach in scanner ,for PhD
Student's ,Scientist's , it's more than OCR RChisty Pittcon
2005=www.pittcon.org
(4) New low cost Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS)- COPI - Ruhel- Micro--
Mass-Spectrophotometer instrument and COPI ,-For two different
reactions ,conditions ,programming ,pressure .volume- one GC(Nano-
Tech), P 64,Session 10,000, GC-MS ,PITTCON 2004 ,March 7-
12 ,2004 .Chicago. Illinois US = www.pittcon.org
(5) New instrument in gas chromatography(Nano Tech) RChisty, p 14-
15 ,41 Eastern Analytical Symposium &Exposition November 18-21, 2002
U.S.A , Montchanin, DE =www.eas.org
( 6 ) Role of matrix mechanism in Organic Chemistry (Nano-Tech)
(Environmental Analysis) DRO, GRO ,HC, TPH ,Pesticides ,Phenols etc's
24th international symposium on Chromatography
Leipzig ,Germany,September,15-20, 2002
(7) Support for Publication in Implementation,-ASTM-G-48(A,
B ,C ,D)&A-262-Methods (Metallurgical)2003.4
(8) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - TCD / (Nano) - FID/PID to detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , in process -DHS -Conference (Home land security) = www.sam2006.org
(9) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - electro-chemical mechanism sensor / detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , (in process) -DHS -Conference (Home land security)= www.sam2006.org
(10) A New- Ruhel- Anti Land mines sensor - :-أ series , of sensors
to detect and identify -Explosives ,Bio-Chemicals DHS -Home land
security (in process)
NOMINATION : (1) Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award
(2) Pl, I got special e-mail form , Scientific American ,Inc ,415 Madison Avenue New York, NY, 10017, USA ,to apply for "A ROLEX AWARD =to project ,advances human knowledge and well-being?, www.rolexawards.com
(3) Pl, I nominated for "International WHO'S WHO of Professionals , as a candidate for inclusion in the 2005-2006 edition. = internationalwhoswho.com/
(4) Pl I got nominate for "for Prestigious Innovations Award ,2007 ", www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu ,Pl it will be given by Harvard university .,USA
(5) Pl I Got Nominate for Dubai International Award 2004,2005 ,2006 (Pl
its UN Award = www.unhabitat.org , Please it's Middle -East Nobel prize .for Environmental +best human practices . www.bestpractices.org,
SKILLS :-MS -word ,excel ,Office ,(have, "mine own" Personal Computer )From Dec, 2001 ,.
IR/GC-(FID/ECD/PID) ,GC-MS ,FTIR,UV/VIS ,ICP,
EDUCATION :--
MSc-1992 Physical Chemistry + BSc -1990 , Physics chemistry Mathematics -MLSUniversity -Udaipur -RAJ India =www.mlsu.org ,
Grade 75% (Physics-1989-BS), 79% (Optics-1989,BS), Approx 60% ( Electronics) ,69% (Magnetism and Electricity).(1989-BS),82% (Organic Chemistry-1988-BS) ,18th Position University (1989) = www.mlsu.org,
AWARDS :--Get International Merit Award of poetry , Poet of the Year for 2003,2002 ,2003 ,Hollywood ,Disney land
AFFILIATIONS:--
ACS (American Chemical Society )(Sub Div (Analytical Chemistry ,Computer - Chemistry, Organic Synthesis ) =www.acs.org
IUPAC (International Union Of Pure And Applied Chemistry ) =www.iupac.org
Member Chartered Chemist level = The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc.= www.raci.org.au
INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF JOURNALS :- for 1 J.Analytical chemistry 2 J. Pharmaceutical 3J. Organic Synthesis 4 J.Medicinal Chemistry (with ACS=www.acs.org )
Passport Number:-E-6884179
Date Of Birth 26-08-1966
Single (Kid Mr. .F. Chisty)
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
I have always used my handmade soaps for shaving as well as bathing but these cute little lemony cubes are great! As moisturizing as my regular bars but with the added slip and slide that silk peptide and kaolin clay will give.
Scented with a complex blend of 15 fragrance and essential oils that include citrus, herb, spice, rose, milk and honey. The best I can describe it would be a warm, slightly sweet, lemon herb blend. This is not a sharp, crisp lemon but more of a softly femanine, floral lemon.
For best shaving results use a sharp razor and scrubby gloves or poof to increase lather.
Ingredients: Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Water/Aqua, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Coconut Milk (Organic coconut milk, water, guar gum), Iris germanica, Mica, Kaolin, Silk Peptide, Oxide, Ultramarine, Parfum.
Lemon Legs Handmade soap is a 2 cube set. Each cube weighs approximately 3 oz / 85 grams and come wrapped together in decorative paper with a label. Total weight = 6 oz / 170 grams.
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Banded Gila Monster. Of the 3800 or so species of lizards only two are venomous - they both belong to the family Helodermatidae and they are the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum suspectum and cinctum) and the Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum). This picture shows detail of scales of the Banded Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum cinctum) of the Southwestern United States. The detail in this photo helps explain the name "beaded" lizards. These are remarkable animals; they've been on the earth about 38 million years - there are peptides in their venom which are being used as insulin replacements in the treatment of diabetes. There are peptides which potentially may inhibit the growth of breast and lung cancer cells and improve memory. Yet someone once called these creatures "monsters." Wow! They've been on the earth about 38 million years and we've only been here a few hundred thousand. Maybe they know something...."Grumpy" was illegally taken from the wild in Arizona 10 years ago when he was a juvenile. He cannot be returned to the wild and I am lucky to have him placed in my care by folks from Idaho Fish and Game. Gila monsters can live more than 30 years and in the states in which they are native they are considered endangered species. Photo by Frank
Researchers meet from around the world to showcase their research in the Chemistry and Biology of Peptides in the Early Researcher Conference 2019.
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkmoth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silkmoth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silkmoth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silkmoths are different from their domestic cousins as they have not been selectively bred; they are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. The silkworm was domesticated from the wild silkmoth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domesticated silkworm derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silkworms were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic age. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.
Domestic silkmoths are very different from most members in the genus Bombyx; not only have they lost the ability to fly, but their color pigments are also lost.
TYPES
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into three different but connected groups or types. The major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ("uni-"=one, "voltine"=brood frequency) and bivoltine categories. The univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross-fertilize only by spring, generating silk only once annually. The second type is called bivoltine and is normally found in China, Japan, and Korea. The breeding process of this type takes place twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the resulting two life cycles. The polyvoltine type of mulberry silkworm can only be found in the tropics. The eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to 12 days, so the resulting type can have up to eight separate life cycles throughout the year.
PROCESS
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their lifecycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a vital layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon and through the pupal phase of its lifecycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which seriously reduces the value of the silk threads, but not silk cocoons used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere for doonas, jackets etc. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the larva, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute. He also promoted Ahimsa silk, wild silk made from the cocoons of wild and semi-wild silk moths.
The moth – the adult phase of the lifecycle – is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females and for evasion from predators. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved. This is because their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings. However, some silkmoths can still fly. Silkmoths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (for they are carrying many eggs) but are similarly colored. Adult Bombycidae have reduced mouthparts and do not feed, though a human caretaker can feed them.
COCOON
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
RESEARCH
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm. One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the very small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual worm.
Currently, research is focusing on genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the worms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms.
ON THE MOON
As of January 2, 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lander brought silkworms to the moon. A small microcosm 'tin' in the lander contained A. thaliana, seeds of potatoes, as well as silkworm eggs. As plants would support the silkworms with oxygen, and the silkworms would in turn provide the plants with necessary carbon dioxide and nutrients through their waste, researchers will evaluate whether plants successfully perform photosynthesis, and grow and bloom in the lunar environment.
DOMESTICATION
The domesticated form, compared to the wild form, has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domesticated moth cannot fly, so it needs human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments are also lost, so the domesticated moths are leucistic since camouflage isn't useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made the domesticated strains entirely dependent upon humans for survival. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
SILKWORM BREEDING
Silkworms were first domesticated in China over 5,000 years ago. Since then, the silk production capacity of the species has increased nearly tenfold. The silkworm is one of the few organisms wherein the principles of genetics and breeding were applied to harvest maximum outpu. It is second only to maize in exploiting the principles of heterosis and cross breeding.Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworm from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity (the egg-laying capacity of a breed), the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (shorter larval duration lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the US, teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising silkworms in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insect from egg stage to larvae, pupa, moth.
The silkworm has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silkworms. The practice of raising silkworms by children as pets has, in non-silk farming South Africa, led to the development of extremely hardy landraces of silkworms, because they are invariably subjected to hardships not encountered by commercially farmed members of the species. However, these worms, not being selectively bred as such, are possibly inferior in silk production and may exhibit other undesirable traits.
GENOME
The full genome of the silkworm was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the silkworm is mid-range with a genome size around 432 megabase pairs.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silkworms, though this is less than that among wild silkmoths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild worms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data". Research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
CUISINE
Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures.
In Assam, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chilli pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silkworm pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as con nhộng.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
SILKWORM LEGENDS
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms, in a hollow stick, out of China and sold the secret to the Byzantine Empire.
SILKWORM DISEASES
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus. If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, N. bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food the silkworms eat. Mother moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of worms hatching from the diseased eggs will die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
WIKIPEDIA
There seems to be a 10% to 30% incidence of depression in people who have diabetes {Source: ADA}. The cause remains unknown. Some people believe that the depression stems from the inability to control blood sugar levels, and the (misplaced)guilt of not managing it. I have my own theories, though. Unlike natural human insulin, the current crop of synthetic insulins do not permeate the blood-brain barrier. Besides, C-Peptide, a protein that is produced by the beta cells of the pancreas along with insulin, is not added to the synthetic insulin. Does this lack of C-Peptide in some way induce depression in diabetics? Or is it because current synthetic insulins don't permeate the blood-brain barrier? We don't know. Yet. What is known is that we have to be proactive in helping diabetics combat depression.
There is no cure for diabetes, yet. And no, I am not depressed, and don't see myself getting depressed. Yet.
,I have two publications against Al-Qaida , one against LTTE =South Indian in ME=Gulf !? , few against Hindutava terror groups ,which came from real life in India !!?? Please recently = 15th April /March -2008 , my one paper=Abstract got selected in prime conference of royal society of chemistry =www.rsc.org/arf08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008, Title: Ruhel New concept to anti -chemical terror by use of speed checker AND Chemical detective sensors to stop Al-Quaida attack at Saudi Aramco AND SABIC AND Other Petrochemicals companies in Gulf and whole world
Pl ,I invented Ruhel sensor , Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor, Ruhel word converter attach in scanner, Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS, Ruhel New to anti -chemical terror ,Pl I have 75% in Physics 1989 – BSc, 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =www.iupac.org, www.iupac2003.org ,National research council Canada = www.nrc.ca ,Canadian society for chemistry =CSC ,SAM-2006 , www.dhs.gov ,… Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award , ,Pl I am Indian minority +OBCs=Other backward class - scientist ! ,Pl I am one of the reviewer in J . Schizophrenia Research ( www. elsevier.com) from May 2007 . Please recently in 2008 March , my one paper=Abstract got selected in prime conference of royal society of chemistry =www.rsc.org/arf08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008=concern Anti terror .and sensor .
Note : Please I am getting (1) Complimentary NASA Magazine= NASA Tech Briefs = digital edition = NASA’s best new inventions , ,FROM COMSOL = jukka@comsol.com (2) Defense Tech Briefs= digital edition . Also from COMSOL ,from past 2.5 years (3) Aerospace Manufacturing and Design electronic edition ,from Feb- 2009 . Its gift from Melody Berendt Circulation Director ,it have inside technology of Airplane ,space craft (4) Nature Photonics ,digital edition from nature publication group ,from past 2.0 years . these all are gift to my scientific brain , from these groups =www.comsol.com +NPG =Nature.com ,they know about above Resume =my scientific career , future .my real life social science case . , Ruhel date 05-02-2009 Udaipur –Raj India .
Note : Pl ,I was facing continuous -forced unemployed ness+ high –torture, discrimination +forced virgin =no sex !! ,from Feb. 2003 to till 22 Jan 2008 ! =continuous 5 years in India and , I was kept forced unemployed ,from 1999 to 2001 = continuous 3 =three years forced unemployed ,=Total =8 Years forced unemployed ,torture ,discrimination , please even I have ~10 years vast experience as analytical chemist =chemistry , pl I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class - scientist ! , pl I have 75% in physics 1989 – BSc , 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =WWW.IUPAC.ORG, WWW.IUPAC2003.ORG ,PITTCON ,DHS , WWW.RSC.ORG/ARF08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008 =total 16 international level publication,
even Indian was not given me UN jobs it self ?? pl my UN JOBS , IDS=rchisty90 , ,even I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class scientist. we are facing harassment in our birth nation =Hindu democratic nation ,then ME=GULF countries also !! to get progress , career , prospects in USA ,EUROPE , from India and me… please if I can not got job in USA ,EUROPE ,from India ,ME=GULF , then who !!???????? from past 8 years !!???? while sir you check how many Indian have publications against Al-Quida and Taliban !!?? even its from DRDO , BPRO , IITs ,IISC ,IAS ,IPS ,Indian foreign service !!!?? while my first publication against al-Quida was in 2003 at IUPAC =www.iupac.org !!
while Indian government providing Z-Security =Commando ,to Hindu terror ,people =Like Ashok Singhal , Praveen Togadia, LK Advani , RamVellas Vadantii these all are from VHP =Vishav Hindu Parisad ,and for each of these Hindu terror ,Indian government is consuming 1.2 Million $ per annum !!?? these all have proven record of provoke to murder ,kill ,riots , genocide ,gang rape with Nuns !!??
Note 3 : Please , I got , recommendation from UN Officials(@Dec 2003 it self ) ,=Alexander.Schmid@undoc.org= Tel:+43-1-26060-4278,+ Fax: +43-1-26060-5968 (sir he is Sr Crime prevention & criminal Justice officer ,to UN ) &MS Haiyan Qian= qianh@un.org & ribeiroa@un.org=recommendation ,at , Sun, 9 May 2004 Tel: 212-963-3393+ Fax: 212-963-9681 (Sir she is UNPAN -Chief manager to department of economic and social affair to UN ) ,& ngls@un.org = Tel: ++ 1 212 963 3125, URL: www.un-ngls.org ,to apply for UN Jobs ,
Ruhel 26-01-2009 , Note ,Please these Z-Security =Commando provider Indian government is India’s so called secular party =Congress party ,from past 5 years of there rule , while BJP =RSS provide them security from past 1990 to 2003 !!=13 years !!?? While BJP=RSS Given MP =Member of parliament ticket to , Manoj Pradhan =Prime accused of 2008 Kandhmal anti christen riots those killed 60 Indian christen ,he is in jail But he given BJP Ticket for 2009 Indian elections from G Udayagiri assembly ,India ,
ADDRESS :-(1st address=Home ): Ruhel Chisty ( MRACI-C.Chem) .23 AA Kishan pole Udaipur –Raj ,India , My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708 ,& Tel: +91-294-2488521 (Home )
Fax :,+91294-2411992 ( attn Ruhel Chistry) My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708
Email: Rchisty84@yahoo.com, Rchisty94@gmail.com,RChisty94@yahoo.com,Rchisty84@gmail.com,rchisty20082@gmail.com,rchisty20081@gmail.com,rchisty84@yahoo.com,
[ Please list of Publications ] :-
(1) New dimension against terrorism (Bio Terrorism &Environmental (A
New Concept)),A new sensor-Ruhel Sensor ,www.iupac.org =www.iupac2003.org
P,21 ( AE-1.P033),:RChisty ,39Th IUPAC Congress and 86th conference of the Canadian society of
Chemistry Aug10-15 ,2003 Ottawa ,Ontario ,Canada
(2) A Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor" This will in series of Ruhel-
sensor @2 ,Which will Detect all Brain Figure , brain hormones, All
brain enzymes .all brain Peptides ,with and with out taking any more
sample ,blood ,of Person , so even Now not required any , MRI,CT
scan ,for all Brain disorder ,and good brain ,for a revolutionary
change in medical science of till today .RChisty Pittcon 2005 ,
(3) Ruhel word converter attach in scanner ,for PhD
Student's ,Scientist's , it's more than OCR RChisty Pittcon
2005=www.pittcon.org
(4) New low cost Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS)- COPI - Ruhel- Micro--
Mass-Spectrophotometer instrument and COPI ,-For two different
reactions ,conditions ,programming ,pressure .volume- one GC(Nano-
Tech), P 64,Session 10,000, GC-MS ,PITTCON 2004 ,March 7-
12 ,2004 .Chicago. Illinois US = www.pittcon.org
(5) New instrument in gas chromatography(Nano Tech) RChisty, p 14-
15 ,41 Eastern Analytical Symposium &Exposition November 18-21, 2002
U.S.A , Montchanin, DE =www.eas.org
( 6 ) Role of matrix mechanism in Organic Chemistry (Nano-Tech)
(Environmental Analysis) DRO, GRO ,HC, TPH ,Pesticides ,Phenols etc's
24th international symposium on Chromatography
Leipzig ,Germany,September,15-20, 2002
(7) Support for Publication in Implementation,-ASTM-G-48(A,
B ,C ,D)&A-262-Methods (Metallurgical)2003.4
(8) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - TCD / (Nano) - FID/PID to detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , in process -DHS -Conference (Home land security) = www.sam2006.org
(9) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - electro-chemical mechanism sensor / detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , (in process) -DHS -Conference (Home land security)= www.sam2006.org
(10) A New- Ruhel- Anti Land mines sensor - :-أ series , of sensors
to detect and identify -Explosives ,Bio-Chemicals DHS -Home land
security (in process)
NOMINATION : (1) Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award
(2) Pl, I got special e-mail form , Scientific American ,Inc ,415 Madison Avenue New York, NY, 10017, USA ,to apply for "A ROLEX AWARD =to project ,advances human knowledge and well-being?, www.rolexawards.com
(3) Pl, I nominated for "International WHO'S WHO of Professionals , as a candidate for inclusion in the 2005-2006 edition. = internationalwhoswho.com/
(4) Pl I got nominate for "for Prestigious Innovations Award ,2007 ", www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu ,Pl it will be given by Harvard university .,USA
(5) Pl I Got Nominate for Dubai International Award 2004,2005 ,2006 (Pl
its UN Award = www.unhabitat.org , Please it's Middle -East Nobel prize .for Environmental +best human practices . www.bestpractices.org,
SKILLS :-MS -word ,excel ,Office ,(have, "mine own" Personal Computer )From Dec, 2001 ,.
IR/GC-(FID/ECD/PID) ,GC-MS ,FTIR,UV/VIS ,ICP,
EDUCATION :--
MSc-1992 Physical Chemistry + BSc -1990 , Physics chemistry Mathematics -MLSUniversity -Udaipur -RAJ India =www.mlsu.org ,
Grade 75% (Physics-1989-BS), 79% (Optics-1989,BS), Approx 60% ( Electronics) ,69% (Magnetism and Electricity).(1989-BS),82% (Organic Chemistry-1988-BS) ,18th Position University (1989) = www.mlsu.org,
AWARDS :--Get International Merit Award of poetry , Poet of the Year for 2003,2002 ,2003 ,Hollywood ,Disney land
AFFILIATIONS:--
ACS (American Chemical Society )(Sub Div (Analytical Chemistry ,Computer - Chemistry, Organic Synthesis ) =www.acs.org
IUPAC (International Union Of Pure And Applied Chemistry ) =www.iupac.org
Member Chartered Chemist level = The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc.= www.raci.org.au
INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF JOURNALS :- for 1 J.Analytical chemistry 2 J. Pharmaceutical 3J. Organic Synthesis 4 J.Medicinal Chemistry (with ACS=www.acs.org )
Passport Number:-E-6884179
Date Of Birth 26-08-1966
Single (Kid Mr. .F. Chisty)
,I have two publications against Al-Qaida , one against LTTE =South Indian in ME=Gulf !? , few against Hindutava terror groups ,which came from real life in India !!?? Please recently = 15th April /March -2008 , my one paper=Abstract got selected in prime conference of royal society of chemistry =www.rsc.org/arf08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008, Title: Ruhel New concept to anti -chemical terror by use of speed checker AND Chemical detective sensors to stop Al-Quaida attack at Saudi Aramco AND SABIC AND Other Petrochemicals companies in Gulf and whole world
Pl ,I invented Ruhel sensor , Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor, Ruhel word converter attach in scanner, Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS, Ruhel New to anti -chemical terror ,Pl I have 75% in Physics 1989 – BSc, 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =www.iupac.org, www.iupac2003.org ,National research council Canada = www.nrc.ca ,Canadian society for chemistry =CSC ,SAM-2006 , www.dhs.gov ,… Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award , ,Pl I am Indian minority +OBCs=Other backward class - scientist ! ,Pl I am one of the reviewer in J . Schizophrenia Research ( www. elsevier.com) from May 2007 . Please recently in 2008 March , my one paper=Abstract got selected in prime conference of royal society of chemistry =www.rsc.org/arf08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008=concern Anti terror .and sensor .
Note : Please I am getting (1) Complimentary NASA Magazine= NASA Tech Briefs = digital edition = NASA’s best new inventions , ,FROM COMSOL = jukka@comsol.com (2) Defense Tech Briefs= digital edition . Also from COMSOL ,from past 2.5 years (3) Aerospace Manufacturing and Design electronic edition ,from Feb- 2009 . Its gift from Melody Berendt Circulation Director ,it have inside technology of Airplane ,space craft (4) Nature Photonics ,digital edition from nature publication group ,from past 2.0 years . these all are gift to my scientific brain , from these groups =www.comsol.com +NPG =Nature.com ,they know about above Resume =my scientific career , future .my real life social science case . , Ruhel date 05-02-2009 Udaipur –Raj India .
Note : Pl ,I was facing continuous -forced unemployed ness+ high –torture, discrimination +forced virgin =no sex !! ,from Feb. 2003 to till 22 Jan 2008 ! =continuous 5 years in India and , I was kept forced unemployed ,from 1999 to 2001 = continuous 3 =three years forced unemployed ,=Total =8 Years forced unemployed ,torture ,discrimination , please even I have ~10 years vast experience as analytical chemist =chemistry , pl I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class - scientist ! , pl I have 75% in physics 1989 – BSc , 2 year +70% overall physics BSc, I have four publications anti terror ,anti explosive at IUPAC =WWW.IUPAC.ORG, WWW.IUPAC2003.ORG ,PITTCON ,DHS , WWW.RSC.ORG/ARF08 = Analytical Research Forum 2008 =total 16 international level publication,
even Indian was not given me UN jobs it self ?? pl my UN JOBS , IDS=rchisty90 , ,even I am Indian minority +OBCS=other backward class scientist. we are facing harassment in our birth nation =Hindu democratic nation ,then ME=GULF countries also !! to get progress , career , prospects in USA ,EUROPE , from India and me… please if I can not got job in USA ,EUROPE ,from India ,ME=GULF , then who !!???????? from past 8 years !!???? while sir you check how many Indian have publications against Al-Quida and Taliban !!?? even its from DRDO , BPRO , IITs ,IISC ,IAS ,IPS ,Indian foreign service !!!?? while my first publication against al-Quida was in 2003 at IUPAC =www.iupac.org !!
while Indian government providing Z-Security =Commando ,to Hindu terror ,people =Like Ashok Singhal , Praveen Togadia, LK Advani , RamVellas Vadantii these all are from VHP =Vishav Hindu Parisad ,and for each of these Hindu terror ,Indian government is consuming 1.2 Million $ per annum !!?? these all have proven record of provoke to murder ,kill ,riots , genocide ,gang rape with Nuns !!??
Note 3 : Please , I got , recommendation from UN Officials(@Dec 2003 it self ) ,=Alexander.Schmid@undoc.org= Tel:+43-1-26060-4278,+ Fax: +43-1-26060-5968 (sir he is Sr Crime prevention & criminal Justice officer ,to UN ) &MS Haiyan Qian= qianh@un.org & ribeiroa@un.org=recommendation ,at , Sun, 9 May 2004 Tel: 212-963-3393+ Fax: 212-963-9681 (Sir she is UNPAN -Chief manager to department of economic and social affair to UN ) ,& ngls@un.org = Tel: ++ 1 212 963 3125, URL: www.un-ngls.org ,to apply for UN Jobs ,
Ruhel 26-01-2009 , Note ,Please these Z-Security =Commando provider Indian government is India’s so called secular party =Congress party ,from past 5 years of there rule , while BJP =RSS provide them security from past 1990 to 2003 !!=13 years !!?? While BJP=RSS Given MP =Member of parliament ticket to , Manoj Pradhan =Prime accused of 2008 Kandhmal anti christen riots those killed 60 Indian christen ,he is in jail But he given BJP Ticket for 2009 Indian elections from G Udayagiri assembly ,India ,
ADDRESS :-(1st address=Home ): Ruhel Chisty ( MRACI-C.Chem) .23 AA Kishan pole Udaipur –Raj ,India , My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708 ,& Tel: +91-294-2488521 (Home )
Fax :,+91294-2411992 ( attn Ruhel Chistry) My Cell =Mobile =0091-9636919708
Email: Rchisty84@yahoo.com, Rchisty94@gmail.com,RChisty94@yahoo.com,Rchisty84@gmail.com,rchisty20082@gmail.com,rchisty20081@gmail.com,rchisty84@yahoo.com,
[ Please list of Publications ] :-
(1) New dimension against terrorism (Bio Terrorism &Environmental (A
New Concept)),A new sensor-Ruhel Sensor ,www.iupac.org =www.iupac2003.org
P,21 ( AE-1.P033),:RChisty ,39Th IUPAC Congress and 86th conference of the Canadian society of
Chemistry Aug10-15 ,2003 Ottawa ,Ontario ,Canada
(2) A Nobel - Ruhel -Far-Brain -Sensor" This will in series of Ruhel-
sensor @2 ,Which will Detect all Brain Figure , brain hormones, All
brain enzymes .all brain Peptides ,with and with out taking any more
sample ,blood ,of Person , so even Now not required any , MRI,CT
scan ,for all Brain disorder ,and good brain ,for a revolutionary
change in medical science of till today .RChisty Pittcon 2005 ,
(3) Ruhel word converter attach in scanner ,for PhD
Student's ,Scientist's , it's more than OCR RChisty Pittcon
2005=www.pittcon.org
(4) New low cost Handy Ruhel -Micro -GC/MS)- COPI - Ruhel- Micro--
Mass-Spectrophotometer instrument and COPI ,-For two different
reactions ,conditions ,programming ,pressure .volume- one GC(Nano-
Tech), P 64,Session 10,000, GC-MS ,PITTCON 2004 ,March 7-
12 ,2004 .Chicago. Illinois US = www.pittcon.org
(5) New instrument in gas chromatography(Nano Tech) RChisty, p 14-
15 ,41 Eastern Analytical Symposium &Exposition November 18-21, 2002
U.S.A , Montchanin, DE =www.eas.org
( 6 ) Role of matrix mechanism in Organic Chemistry (Nano-Tech)
(Environmental Analysis) DRO, GRO ,HC, TPH ,Pesticides ,Phenols etc's
24th international symposium on Chromatography
Leipzig ,Germany,September,15-20, 2002
(7) Support for Publication in Implementation,-ASTM-G-48(A,
B ,C ,D)&A-262-Methods (Metallurgical)2003.4
(8) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - TCD / (Nano) - FID/PID to detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , in process -DHS -Conference (Home land security) = www.sam2006.org
(9) Ruhel sensor(1) -**Coupled** with (Nano ) - electro-chemical mechanism sensor / detect -Gases & Impurities to PPT level , (in process) -DHS -Conference (Home land security)= www.sam2006.org
(10) A New- Ruhel- Anti Land mines sensor - :-أ series , of sensors
to detect and identify -Explosives ,Bio-Chemicals DHS -Home land
security (in process)
NOMINATION : (1) Please I got nominate for **The William T. Pecora Award.*2006,2007 , Its for remote sensing Technology, remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html ,Pl Its NASA Award
(2) Pl, I got special e-mail form , Scientific American ,Inc ,415 Madison Avenue New York, NY, 10017, USA ,to apply for "A ROLEX AWARD =to project ,advances human knowledge and well-being?, www.rolexawards.com
(3) Pl, I nominated for "International WHO'S WHO of Professionals , as a candidate for inclusion in the 2005-2006 edition. = internationalwhoswho.com/
(4) Pl I got nominate for "for Prestigious Innovations Award ,2007 ", www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu ,Pl it will be given by Harvard university .,USA
(5) Pl I Got Nominate for Dubai International Award 2004,2005 ,2006 (Pl
its UN Award = www.unhabitat.org , Please it's Middle -East Nobel prize .for Environmental +best human practices . www.bestpractices.org,
SKILLS :-MS -word ,excel ,Office ,(have, "mine own" Personal Computer )From Dec, 2001 ,.
IR/GC-(FID/ECD/PID) ,GC-MS ,FTIR,UV/VIS ,ICP,
EDUCATION :--
MSc-1992 Physical Chemistry + BSc -1990 , Physics chemistry Mathematics -MLSUniversity -Udaipur -RAJ India =www.mlsu.org ,
Grade 75% (Physics-1989-BS), 79% (Optics-1989,BS), Approx 60% ( Electronics) ,69% (Magnetism and Electricity).(1989-BS),82% (Organic Chemistry-1988-BS) ,18th Position University (1989) = www.mlsu.org,
AWARDS :--Get International Merit Award of poetry , Poet of the Year for 2003,2002 ,2003 ,Hollywood ,Disney land
AFFILIATIONS:--
ACS (American Chemical Society )(Sub Div (Analytical Chemistry ,Computer - Chemistry, Organic Synthesis ) =www.acs.org
IUPAC (International Union Of Pure And Applied Chemistry ) =www.iupac.org
Member Chartered Chemist level = The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Inc.= www.raci.org.au
INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF JOURNALS :- for 1 J.Analytical chemistry 2 J. Pharmaceutical 3J. Organic Synthesis 4 J.Medicinal Chemistry (with ACS=www.acs.org )
Passport Number:-E-6884179
Date Of Birth 26-08-1966
Single (Kid Mr. .F. Chisty)
It will be some time before we see
“slime, protoplasm, &c.” generating
a new animal. But I have long
regretted that I truckled to public
opinion, and used the Pentateuchal
term of creation, by which I really
meant “appeared” by some wholly
unknown process. It is mere rubbish,
thinking at present of the origin of
life; one might as well think of the
origin of matter.
Charles Darwin to James D.Hooker,
March 29, 1863
Relax, there’s nothing wrong with the
transposition paper. People aren’t
ready for this yet. I stopped publishing
in refereed journals in 1965 because
there was no interest in the maize
controlling elements.
Barbara McClintock to Mel Green, 1969
-----------
Sometimes my students and others have asked me: “what was first in evolution – retroviruses or retrotransposons?” Since Howard Temin proposed that retroviruses evolved from retrotransposons (Temin 1980; Temin et al.1995) the other alternative that retroviruses emerged first and were the predecessors of LTR-retrotransposons has since been a controversial issue (Terzian et al., this BOOK). While DNA-transposons could not have existed in an ancestral RNA world by definition, sure enough, some arguments definitely point towards a pre-DNA world scenario in which retroelements were the direct descendants of the earliest replicators representing the emergence of life. First, these replicators likely catalyzed their own or other’s replication cycles via the catalytic properties of RNA molecules. After translation had emerged some replicators possibly encoded an RNA polymerase first. This later evolved into reverse transcriptase (RT), i.e. the most prominent key-factor at the transition into the DNA world. Simultaneously, replicators could also have encoded membrane protein-genes such as the env gene of recent DNA-proviruses. Membranes were likely present much earlier as prebiotic oily films that supported the evolution of a prebiotic-protometabolism (Dyson 1999; Griffiths 2007). However, how these promiscuous communities of ancestral molecules and protocells interacted, and how the exact branching chronology of earliest events in molecular evolution led to the emergence of replicators, membrane slicks, obcells (Cavalier-Smith2001) still remains a mystery. It still underscores CharlesDarwin’s statement cited top, while Barbara McClintock’s remark more than 100 years later (cited top), represents the spirit for not giving up these most fundamental topics. One scenario is very likely: from the geochemically dominated times of the early planet earth, prebiotic promiscuous communities including membranes, proto-peptides, metabolites, and replicators represented the ingredients of Darwin’s “wholly unknown process.” From these, we now think, life emerged in conformity with a dual definition of life based on genetics and metabolism. The platform for transposon-research is simple. Besides “genes,” transposable elements evolved as indwelling entities within all cellular genomes. Thereby, they exhibited both a parasitic as well as a symbiotic double-feature that may date back to the very beginnings of life itself. Celebrating Charles Darwin’s bicentenary this year, we certainly do well to honor the fact that Darwin’s concept of gemmules directly led to our present day term“genes” (Gould 2002; Lankenau 2007b). How pleased would Darwin have been to see this idea brought onto the right track, e.g. through the works of Mendel, Weismann, deVries, or McClintock. How pleased would he have been to know how close we come today to his grand challenge: “The Origin of Species.” Darwin, in fact even came as close as he could to humanities deepest concern formulating his famous statement:
“It is often said that all the conditions for the first production of a living organism are now present, which could ever have been present. But if (and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity, &c., present, that a protein compound was chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes, at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed.”
(Charles Darwin, 1871).
This statement also perfectly highlights our current technical hitches – but some have been overcome, and transposable elements have their share in approaching the solution of the grand enigma. How pleased would Darwin have been if he could have shared our modern insights into transposon-biology – as we now understand some of the inner workings of transposon activities and of analogous selfish genetic elements that triggered molecular, coevolutionary chases through sequence space and the emergence of driver systems resulting in “molecular peacock’s tails” such as “autosome killer-chromosomes,” “selfish sex chromosomes,” and “genomic imprinting machineries.” Despite his surmise that present day metabolism would devour or absorb all ancient metabolic systems, we now understand that a great deal of ancient bits of information survived inside the chromosomes of all organisms in the form of sequence relicts. A lot of these ancient molecular relicts belong to the stunning, endogenous survival machines that always represented the major engines of evolution since the times of the genetic takeover–in a sense they form the pillars of life, capable of shaping the evolution of genomes and opportunistically altering genome structure and dynamics: transposable elements and viruses as their extracellular satellites, that fill our world’s oceans with an unimaginable number of 1031 entities, or else, 107 virions per ml of surface seawater (Bergh et al.1989; Williamson et al., 2008).
In fact, life began as and is driven by an emergent self-organizing property. Transposable elements seem to have played a significant role as executors of Gould’s / Eldgredge’s Punctuated Equilibrium. How are transposable elements defined and why are they important?Transposable elements are specific segments of genomic DNA or RNA that exhibit extraordinary recombinational versatility. Treating a transposable element as an individual biological entity, it is best defined as a natural, endogenous, genetic toolbox of recombination. This entity also overlaps with a wider definition of the term gene. A transposable element is typically flanked by non-coding, direct, or inverted repeat sequences of limited length (less than 2 kb) often with promoter- and recombinational functions. These repeats flank a central core sequence, which among few other genes encodes a transposase/integrase and/or reverse transcriptase (RT). Transposable elements are the universal components of living entities that appear to come closest in resembling the presumed earliest replicators (including autocatalytic ribozymes) at the seed crystal level of the origins of life. Stuart Kauffman realized that Darwinian theory must be expanded to recognize other sources and rules of order based on the internal numeric, genetic, and developmental constraints of organisms and on the structural limits and contingencies of physico-chemical laws (Kauffman 1993). While Kauffman’s approach is a step toward a deep theory of homeostasis, it is smart to define the starting point of life as the catalytic closure of two elementary systems intrinsic to all forms of cellular life:(1) prebiotic protometabolism and (2) genetic inheritance encompassing transposon-like replicators. Both (1) and (2) formed a duality at the emergence of life. As forNewton’s second law of motion (F = ma) the couplet of terms metabolism and inheritance is defined in a circle; each (gene and biotic metabolism) requires the other. Infact, this circularity lay behind Poincaré’s conception of fundamental laws as definitional conventions (Kauffman 1993). Further, the logical separation of the two is technical only and for argumentational, experimental purposes it is useful. On the primordial earth, ordered prebiotic proto-metabolism (Dyson1999) likely congregated in the vicinity of geochemically formed membrane surfaces or within hemi cells or obcells as Cavalier-Smith called them (Cavalier-Smith 2001; Griffiths 2007). Such earliest metabolically ordered environments perhaps were too dynamic to establish long chained replicators such as RNA. At present it appears more realistic to assume the origin and growth of long RNA molecules in sea ice (Trinks et al. 2005). Freeman Dyson unfolded a possible series of evolutionary steps establishing the modern genetic apparatus, with the evolutionary predecessors of transposable elements (i.e. replicators) at the heart of this process, establishing the modern genetic apparatus. Let us assume that the origin of life “took place” when a hemicell contained an ordered, homeostatically stable metabolic machinery (compare the similar ideas of Cavalier-Smith 2001). This system maintained itself in a stable homeostatic equilibrium. The major transition, establishing life was the integration of RNA as a self-reproducing cellular “parasite”but not yet performing a symbiotic genetic function for the hemicell. This transitional state must have been in place before the evolution of the elaborate translation apparatus linking the two systems could begin (Dyson1999). The first replicators were not yet what we call transposable elements sensu stricto. They still had to evolve genes for proteins such as integrase and reverse transcriptase (RT). This transitional state of merging metabolism and replication represented the first of life’s punctuated equilibria (Gould2002) resulting in the inseparable affiliation of parasitic/symbiotic interactions of metabolites and replicators. The inseparable affiliation of symbiotic/parasitic features is the most typical characteristic of transposable elements active within modern genomes. After the genetic code and translation had been invented, and when the first retroelements evolved RT from some sort of RNA replicase, transposable elements (i.e. retroelements) triggered yet another punctuated equilibrium, i.e. the transition from the RNA world to an RNA/DNA world. Amazingly, the deep window into earth’s most ancient past is still reflected by the vivid actions of transposable elements and viruses within all present-day genomes–it also includes the significant chimerical feature of parasitic versus symbiotic interdependencies. From time to time – typically, as evolution is tinkering (Jacob 1977) – transposable element sequences that usually evolve under the law sof selfish and parasitic reproductive constraints became domesticated as useful integral parts of cellular genomes. One of the most forceful examples is the repeated domestication of sequence fragments from an endogenous provirus reprogramming human salivary and pancreatic salivary glands during primate evolution (Samuelsonetal.1990). The other prominent example of transposon domestication is the evolution of V(D)J recombination from the “RAG-transposon” crucial for the working of our immune system (Agrawal etal. 1998). The above considerations force us to discern the historic rootage of transposable elements in geological deep time. The following chapters will serve sketching some of the enduring consequences of the emergence of transposable elements as inseparable constituents of modern genomes –as indwelling forces of species, populations and cells, recent and throughout evolution. The first two chapters establish key aspects of the significance of transposon dynamics as major engines of evolution on the level of genomes, populations, and species. The first chapter summarizes general theoretical approaches to transposon dynamics applicable to prokaryotes, as well as eukaryotes, with emphasis onthe parasitic nature of transposable elements. Arnaud Le Rouzic and Pierre Capy point out that the evolution of a novel transposon insertion is similar to the dynamics of a single locus gene exposed to natural selection, mutations, and genetic drift. Different “alleles” can coexist at each insertion locus, e.g., a “void” allele without any insertion, a complete insertion, and multiple variants of deleted defective, inactivated alleles progressively accumulating through mutational erosion. Even though not mentioned in this context, the first chapter nicely approaches the NK model of Stuart Kauffman that forms the conceptual backbone of his grand opus the “Origins of Order” (Kauffman 1993, pp. 40–43). In the NK model N is the number of distinct genes in a haploid genome while K is the average number of other genes which epistatically influence the fitness contribution of each gene. Le Rouzic and Capy address the problem of a stable equilibrium. This, perhaps in the future promises to become congruent with Kauffman’s prediction that many properties of the fitness-landscapes created with the NK model appear to be surprisingly robust and depend almost exclusively upon N and K alone (Kauffman 1993, p. 44). The second chapter merges historical aspects of transposable element dynamics at the infra- and trans-specific populational level with modern approaches at the epigenetic level. While transposable elements were first discovered by Barbara Mc Clintock in maize, Christina Vieira etal. focus and underscore the importance of Drosophila as a model organism in transposon research and populational studies. The third chapter by Agnès Dettai and Jean-Nicolas Volff exemplifies the SINE6 retroelements as a model system of real novel insertions of transposable elements within variable chromosomal sites. SINES are shown as key examples for the powerful mode of evolutionary genome dynamics. Novel insertions not only create new fitness landscapes on which selection can act but if established within all germline genomes of a species they become powerful molecular morphological markers that are employed for cladistic analysis identifying unambiguous branching points in phylogenetic trees. This chapter truly represents the legacy of Willi Hennig’s phylogenetic systematics (Hennig 1966; Hennig 1969) on a modern molecular platform. The chapter also lists a number of software tools making whole genome analysis feasible. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on transposable elements, and on the origin and regulation by means of double-stranded RNA and RNA interference (RNAi), another key-factor with evolutionary significance. While King Jordan and Wolfgang Miller review the control of transposable elements by regulatory RNAs and summarize general aspects of genome defense Christophe Terzian et al. in Chapter 5 present insights into the most interesting and the first example of an insect retrovirus, i.e. the endogenous gypsy retrotransposon of Drosophila. This retrovirus indeed represents an unmatched model system for multiple aspects of the biology of endogenous retroviruses as well as of an active retrotransposon. The gypsy provirus had been studied previously in connection with the host encoded Zn-finger protein Suppressor of Hairy Wing [Su(Hw)]. This protein turned out to be a chromatin insulator regulating chromatin boundaries and controlling enhancer-driven promoter activities. Its repetitive binding site within the gypsy provirus must have evolved within the gypsy retroelement by means of transposon evolution, perhaps in a quasi species-like way. It is one of the most impressive examples demonstrating the emergence of the potential power of novel regulatory functions within host genomes (Gdula et al. 1996;Gerasimova and Corces 1998; Gerasimova et al. 1995). Terzian et al. (Chapter 5) advance our understanding and broaden our insights of gypsy driven by piRNA control mechanisms located within the heterochromatic flamenco locus. They further review recent findings as to the role of the envelope (Env) membrane protein serving as a model for retroviral horizontal and vertical genome transfer. Another spectacular evolutionary example is presented in Chapter 6 by Walisko et al. It is the story of the revitalization of an ancient inactive DNA transposable element called Sleeping Beauty. It was reconstructed based on conserved genomic sequence-information only in the laboratory. The story is like Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park scenario, where dinosaurs were reconstructed from DNA in mosquito blood fossilized in amber. While Crichton’s experiments were fiction, Sleeping Beauty is a real, reanimated “transposon-dinosaur.” It existed for millions of years as an eroded, defective molecular fossil within a fish genome and was reactivated to study host-cell interactions in experimentally transfected human cells. Last but not least, the final chapter by Izsvák et al. describes the interactions of transposable elements with the cellular DNA repair machinery. Barbara McClintock first recognized the interdependence of chromosome breaks and transposition inher famous breakage fusion-bridge cycle (McClintock 1992 (reprinted)). In the early 1990s Bill Engels and co-workers discovered the fundamental, prominent double-strand break repair mechanism they called Synthesis-Dependent Strand Annealing (SDSA) as the underlying molecular mechanism repairing P-transposable element induced double-strand breaks. This mechanism of homologous recombination is now widely recognized and its role in genome dynamics is interwoven into many volume chapters of this book series. As regards content Chapter 7 therefore closes the cycle and links this fourth book volume of the series to the first volume integrating multiple aspects of genome integrity (Lankenau 2007a). Altogether, this book gives insight and a future perspective regarding the significance of transposable elements as selfish molecular drivers and universal features of life that exhibit in the words of Burt and Trivers“ a truly subterranean world of sociogenetic interactions usually hidden completely from sight” (Burt and Trivers, 2006). I most cordially thank all chapter authors for contributing to this volume on genome dynamics and transposable elements. Most importantly, I am deeply grateful to all the referees whose names must be kept in anonymity. At least two for each chapter were involved in commenting, shaping, and struggling with the individual scripts – I really, greatly appreciate their efforts! I thank Jean Nicolas Volff for organizing the transposable element meeting at Wittenberg some time ago and helping to invite some of the authors. I also thank the editorial staff at Springer who have always been patient with the editors and authors alike and have provided much help. I especially thank the managing editor Sabine Schwarz at Springer Life Sciences (Heidelberg) and the desk editor Ursula Gramm (Springer, Heidelberg) for their enduring assistance. I would also like to mention that le-tex publishing services oHG, Leipzig did a good job in production editing and preparing the manuscripts for print.
Ladenburg, April 2009
Dirk-Henner Lankenau
Experts gather from across the globe to convene for the first Chemistry and Biology of Peptides Conference held at the University of Wolverhampton. Professor John Howl and Dr Sarah Jones chair the conference and provide insight into their Research on the Male Contraceptive Pill. In Association with the Royal Society of Chemistry: Protein and Peptide Science Group and The European Peptide Society.
α-Endorphin is an endogenous opioid peptide with a length of 16 amino acids, and the amino acid sequence: Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-Thr-Ser-Glu-Lys-Ser-Gln-Thr-Pro-Leu-Val-Thr. Endorphins are generally known as neurotransmitters that are released when the body goes into pain. Its chemical formula is C77H120N18O26S.
Source: Licensed from stock.adobe.com/
As we were sipping our cup of civet coffee, I picked up one of the bags of coffee from the shelf, which had a label that described the concept of civet coffee is some detail. If you can enlarge this picture to full screen, you can read it yourself, it's quite clear. But if you cannot be bothered with that, here's the explanation from Wikipaedia: Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, refers to the beans of coffee berries once they have been eaten and excreted by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The name is also used for marketing brewed coffee made from those beans.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs if the civets choose to eat coffee cherries containing better beans. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the berries for the beans' fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids.Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated (when the civet makes poopoo) with other fecal matter and collected. These beans are then washed, and then ground. In the coffee industry kopi luwak is widely regarded as a gimmick or novelty item. (Manila- Tagaytay, Philippines, May 2013)
the Peptides were performing here in Owen Sound Ontario Canada
I Had a wonderful night at the Frog Pond cafe. Featuring the Peptides, A very dynamic, animated,musical,l funny band.
Gears: Nikon D50 and AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX lens
Location: Pasar Payang wet market, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
Processing: Split Tone, Adobe Photoshop CS2
Findings: Analysing the active chemical components of white onions, scientists at the University of Bern concluded the peptide compound GPCS present in onions appears to retard bone loss. Their findings provide a further boost for food formulations looking to pierce the buoyant market for functional foods with a bone health hook; forecast to grow by 7.6 per cent annually, reaching £86.4 million in the UK alone in 2007, according to figures from Datamonitor. The category is enjoying growth on the back of growing awareness of the bone-wasting disease osteoporosis, described by the World Health Organisation as the leading global healthcare problem after heart disease, and affecting 30 million people (predominantly women) worldwide. Source: iconocast.com'
Transforming the Mental Onion
Jul 26th, 2007 by Don Iannone
mind, like an onion
growing layer upon layer
each wanting to be peeled
explored
granted a reality
a wish to be more
anything transcending the layers
layers growing inside outward
each subsequent one larger
yet all the same, just layers
ripples on the mind’s surface water
curved lines with no beginning or end
no independent existence
never free of all else
in the end
just swirling circles
atop formless prima materia
seeking to become more
than an onion
in the alchemist’s flask
You may be surprised at the kinds of issues talk therapy can help with -- everything from coping with job stress to quitting smoking.
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Crema rassodante per collo e décolleté con proprietà anti-età.
Il collo, le guance e il décolleté sono zone di cui spesso dimentichiamo di prenderci cura, ma spesso mostrano i segni dell'invecchiamento prima di altre parti del nostro corpo, perché non creare un trattamento che si rivolge a loro?
Questa crema è stata creata per combattere la disidratazione, la mancanza di elasticità, le linee sottili e l'iperpigmentazione su collo e décolleté, grazie alla formula che vanta 2% di complesso peptidico Botox che lavora per rassodare la pelle; 3% di burro di karité per nutrire profondamente la pelle; 0,05% di retinolo, l'ingrediente cosmetico anti-età del momento che aiuta a migliorare la produzione naturale di collagene, lasciando la pelle più soda e liscia; niacinamide, un antiossidante che lenisce la pelle mentre la illumina e combatte le macchie; estratto di ginseng, una pianta del sud-est asiatico la cui radice è stata usata nella medicina tradizionale per secoli come la "fonte della giovinezza", che può lenire la pelle e fornire antiossidanti; acido ialuronico per idratare profondamente la zona e preservare l'idratazione per tutto il giorno; e ceramidi per migliorare l'idratazione e riparare e proteggere la funzione barriera della pelle. È un trattamento completo per rassodare e curare il collo e il décolleté di tutti i tipi di pelle.
Ha un delicato profumo floreale e legnoso basato su oli essenziali naturali come camomilla, gelsomino, ylang ylang, lavanda e rosmarino, e la sua texture è densa e fondente, ma si assorbe immediatamente. La crema ha una leggera sfumatura gialla a causa del retinolo e dell'estratto naturale di curcuma, ma non preoccupatevi; una volta assorbita, non macchierà i vostri vestiti o il cuscino.
In caso di gravidanza, si consiglia di sospendere i trattamenti con retinolo fino al termine dell'allattamento.
Non esporsi al sole senza protezione solare.
Preferibile l'applicazione serale.
Avispa de caballos (Polistes major)
Polistes major major es una subespecie de avispa neotropical eusocial que se encuentra más comúnmente en la isla Hispaniola y en América Central. Ha sido apodado "avispa de caballo", la avispa del caballo, en la República Dominicana.
Recientemente, se evocó un problema con P. major major con respecto a su picadura y veneno; Al ser más grandes que las especies nativas europeas, los tratamientos médicos en España pueden no ser lo suficientemente fuertes como para contrarrestar las picaduras de las avispas más grandes, como P. major major. Se han identificado tres péptidos del veneno mayor de P. major.
Las reinas son responsables de hacer los nidos. Como la mayoría de los nidos de avispas de papel, los nidos de P. major major consisten en un material gris o marrón pardusco fabricado al masticar madera moldeada en forma de peine abierto, que contiene varias celdas para la cría de la reina.
El hábitat de P. major major se extiende por Centroamérica. Muchos especímenes se han obtenido de varias partes de Costa Rica y se distribuyen en todo Puerto Rico. Se encuentra más comúnmente en la República Dominicana y se puede encontrar en otras áreas de la isla Hispaniola. La avispa también se ha visto en los Estados Unidos, a saber, los estados de Florida, Georgia y Arizona. Recientemente, ha sido visto en España.
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Polistes major major is a neotropical eusocial paper wasp subspecies most commonly found on the Hispaniola Island and within Central America. It has been nicknamed "avispa de caballo", the horse's wasp, in the Dominican Republic.
Recently, an issue with P. major major was evoked regarding its sting and venom; being larger than native European species, medical treatments in Spain may not be strong enough to counter the stings of the bigger wasps, such as P. major major. Three peptides have been identified from P. major major venom.
Queens are responsible for making the nests. Like most paper wasp nests, the nests of P. major major consist of a gray or papery brown material made by chewing wood fashioned into an open comb shape, containing multiple cells for the queen's brood
P. major major's habitat is spread out among Central America. Many specimens have been obtained from various parts of Costa Rica, and are distributed all over Puerto Rico. It is most commonly found in the Dominican Republic, and can be found in other areas upon the Hispaniola Island.[1] The wasp has also been seen in the United States, namely the states of Florida, Georgia, and Arizona. Recently, it has been spotted in Spain.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Vespidae
Genus:Polistes
Species:P. major
Subspecies:P. m. major
Trinomial name
Polistes major major
Secondary breast cancer, also called metastatic breast cancer, occurs when the disease spreads from the breast to elsewhere in the body. Some patients will have their first diagnosis of breast cancer only to discover that it has spread and is in fact metastatic breast cancer. Many women who are diagnosed with secondary cancer have had breast cancer at a previous time. Secondary cancer is caused by cancerous cells breaking away from their first place of infection to travel via the bloodstream to other parts of the body. Obviously metastatic breast cancer is serious and harder to fight because the disease is not confined simply to the breast.
When metastatic cancer develops, the most likely places it will spread to are the liver, lungs, bones and the brain. But because this type of cancer spreads, it does not mean it will necessarily spread to most or all of these places.
Because every woman is unique, those who develop metastatic breast cancer will have their own set of symptoms. These are determined by the location of the secondary cancer. If in the bones, the symptoms will usually mean aches and pains in the bones and particularly so when moving. It can also be difficult to sleep.
Epidemiology
The pain in cancer patients is usually multifactorial, may arise from the process itself, treatment side effects or both. For these reasons the approach and management of this symptom should be multidisciplinary. Pain syndrome occurs either by local proliferation or tumor invasion of a metastatic tumor from a distance. With metastatic bone pain often reflects the presence of a tumor in breast, thyroid, prostate, kidney, lung or adrenal.
Physiology of bone pain
Bone pain is associated with tissue destruction by osteoclast cells. Normally, osteoclastic bone resorption are in balance with bone formation mediated by osteoblasts. In neoplastic osteolytic activity is increased and there are substances such as cytokines, local growth factors, peptides similar to parathyroid hormone and prostaglandins. Autacoids are also released other owners as potassium ions, bradykinin and osteoclast activating factors. These tissue substances play an important role in sensitizing the neural tissue against chemical and thermal stimuli, lower thresholds for discharge of the neuronal membrane, produce exaggerated responses to stimuli above the threshold and result in discharges of tonic impulses normally silent nociceptors. This phenomenon is called peripheral sensitization and primary hyperalgesia and is understood as events occurring within the ranks of the injured tissue and stimulate peripheral nociceptors (C fibers and A delta fibers) translating pain. In bone tissue of the sensory receptors are located primarily in the periosteum, whereas the bone marrow and bone cortex are insensitive. This phenomenon of peripheral sensitization results in abnormal sensitivity to pressure surrounding skin (allodynia and hyperalgesia), pain in muscles, tendons, joints and deep tissues in contact with bone. This is limited to ensure that the peripheral ends have a greater capacity for alarm response to injury.
The constant presence of harmful process, stimulating nociceptive receptors gives the introduction of a subacute pain that tends to be chronic with the growth of bone metastases. These stimuli lead to another prevalent phenomenon called central sensitization important which includes abnormal amplification of incoming sensory signals to the central nervous system, particularly the spinal cord. The phenomenon occurs because of the persistent input stimulus through the fibers C. This spinal cord triggers a temporary increase in the power of silent synaptic terminals. In this process plays an important role of glutamate receptor N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). The resulting amplification of the signal generated in the postsynaptic neuron sends a message to the brain which is interpreted as pain. In short central sensitization amplifies the sensory effects of both peripheral nociceptive inputs (C fibers of pain) and non-nociceptive fibers (A of touch).
In practice the two phenomena come together in the genesis of metastatic bone pain and peripheral sensitization occurs acutely metastatic lesions to appear nociceptors and translate the information conveyed through the afferent myelinated A-delta or unmyelinated C fibers to the spinal cord where the information is modulated by various systems. With the set up process subacute begins the process of central sensitization which sensory synapses begin to activate silent. And there is a state of increased central perception. By becoming chronic pain phenomenon becomes even more complex because all that is in contact with the area of injury becomes a powerful generator of pain. The touch, muscle movement or joint pain result, manifesting the phenomena of allodynia and hyperalgesia much more marked.
Yếu tố hàng đầu làm nên nhan sắc rạng rỡ và tự tin cho phái đẹp chính là làn da. Tuy nhiên làn da là lá chắn bảo vệ cơ thể nên không thể tránh khỏi những sự cố tai nạn rủi ro ngoài ý muốn. Cụ thể là những vết trầy xước hay sẹo rỗ (sẹo lõm) được hình thành từ các tổn thương ngoài da.
Tuy nhiên, bằng rất nhiều nghiên cứu, người ta đã ứng dụng collagen thành công vào việc điều trị sẹo, giúp phái đẹp tìm lại làn da thuở nào.
Collagen Có Trị Sẹo Không?
Theo cơ chế tái tạo da thì các tổn thương trên da sẽ được làm đầy nhờ vào sự tăng sinh của Collagen và Elastin tự nhiên, từ đó giúp da được kéo căng lên và đây là sự chữa lành vết thương theo cơ chế tự nhiên.
Tuy nhiên, khi vết thương quá sâu thì lượng Collagen và Elastin cơ thể tự sản sinh ra không đủ để làm vùng da bị tổn thương được phục hồi. Chính vì vậy mà trong y học lẫn trong ngành thẩm mỹ, dựa trên khả năng làm lành sẹo của Collagen người ta đã sử dụng Collagen vào nhiều phương pháp điều trị sẹo.
Thực Phẩm Chức Năng Collagen Trị Sẹo Rỗ Nào Tốt?
Thực phẩm chức năng Collagen có tác dụng chính là tăng cường độ đàn hồi cho da, giữ cho da căng mượt, săn chắc. Bên cạnh đó, uống Collagen còn giúp tái tạo làn da, hỗ trợ điều trị vết thâm mụn và hỗ trợ điều trị các vùng da bị sẹo rỗ.
Hiện nay, trên thị trường chưa có loại thực phẩm chức năng Collagen chuyên điều trị sẹo rỗ do mụn. Vì vậy, khi chọn thực phẩm chức năng Collagen, bạn nên ưu tiên sản phẩm Collagen Peptide, bởi trong đó có chứa glycine (một loại amino acid giúp kháng viêm khi bạn bị mụn). Thực phẩm chức năng Collagen ADIVA chứa 100% Collagen Peptide được kiểm nghiệm lâm sàng và nhập khẩu trực tiếp từ Đức là một gợi ý tốt dành cho bạn!
Bên cạnh đó, để giúp quá trình hồi phục sẹo rỗ nhanh chóng thì bạn nên kết hợp thêm chế độ ăn uống nhiều dưỡng chất Vitamin C, có nhiều trong các loại trái cây như cam, chanh, dâu, bưởi, sơ ri…
Ngoài ra, các loại hoa quả mọng nước, giàu Vitamin C như cam, chanh, bưởi, dâu, sơ ri, việt quất để kích thích cơ thể sản sinh Collagen tự nhiên, làm vết sẹo rỗ mau lành hơn.
Gel Trị Sẹo Collagen Hãng Nào tốt?
Gel Collagen trị sẹo chứa nhiều dưỡng chất đặc biệt, kích thích cơ thể sản xuất Collagen để lắp đầy những vết sẹo rỗ. Bên cạnh đó, các dưỡng chất có trong gel trị sẹo Collagen còn giúp ngăn chặn sự hình thành của các hắc sắc tố Melanin gây nám da, giúp tái sinh nhanh chóng vùng da bị sẹo, hỗ trợ tăng cường sức đề kháng cho da và mang lại làn da khỏe đẹp tự nhiên.
collagen tri seo
Trên thị trường hiện có rất nhiều các loại gel trị sẹo xuất xứ từ Mỹ, Nhật Bản, Việt Nam…
Tuy nhiên, chưa có nhãn hàng nào chứng tỏ được uy tín nổi bật về dòng sản phẩm gel trị sẹo. Vì thế, bạn có thể tham khảo ý kiến của bác sĩ chuyên khoa về loại sản phẩm nên sử dụng, và tìm hiểu kĩ thông tin về chính sách mua hàng trước khi thanh toán.
Có Nên Trị Sẹo Rỗ Bằng Lăn Kim Collagen?
Lăn kim Collagen trị sẹo rỗ hiện là dịch vụ đang được các trung tâm thẩm mỹ quảng bá rầm rộ là có hiệu quả tuyệt vời, giúp tái tạo da nhanh chóng.
Theo một nghiên cứu được tiến hành năm 2008, vùng da được điều trị bởi 4 liệu trình lăn kim (mỗi liệu trình cách nhau 1 tháng) đã sản sinh ra lượng Collagen và Elastin tăng gấp 4 lần 6 tháng sau khi hoàn thành việc điều trị bằng lăn kim.
Tuy nhiên lăn kim là liệu pháp dễ gây tổn thương và chảy máu nên phải được thực hiện trong điều kiện vô trùng và đảm bảo đúng tiêu chuẩn của Bộ Y tế, vì thế bạn hãy lựa chọn những trung tâm thẩm mỹ có uy tín cao để điều trị sẹo rỗ bằng lăn kim Collagen.
Nguồn bài viết tại website collagen.asia: COLLAGEN TRỊ SẸO
via Collagen Asia® collagen.asia/collagen/collagen-tri-seo/
The Gila monster ( /ˈhiːlə/ hee-lə), Heloderma suspectum, is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. A heavy, slow-moving lizard, up to 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) long, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to the United States and one of only two known species of venomous lizards in North America, the other being its close relative, the Mexican beaded lizard (H. horridum). Though the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means that it represents little threat to humans. However, it has earned a fearsome reputation and is sometimes killed despite being protected by state law in Arizona and Nevada.
The Gila monster is found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, a range entailing Sonora, Arizona, parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico (but not Baja California). They inhabit scrubland, succulent desert, and oak woodland, seeking shelter in burrows, thickets, and under rocks in locations with ready access to moisture. In fact, Gila monsters seem to like water and can be observed immersing themselves in puddles of water after a summer rain. They avoid living in open areas such as flats and farmland.
The Gila monster feeds primarily on bird and reptile eggs, and occasionally upon small birds, mammals, frogs, lizards, insects, and carrion. The Gila monster eats infrequently (only five to ten times a year in the wild), but when it does feed, it may eat up to one-third of its body mass. It uses its extremely acute sense of smell to locate prey, especially eggs. Its sense of smell is so keen that it can locate and dig up chicken eggs buried 15 centimetres (5.9 in) deep and accurately follow a trail made by rolling an egg.
Prey may be crushed to death if large or eaten alive if small, swallowed head-first and helped down by muscular contractions and neck flexing. Unusually, after food has been swallowed, the Gila monster immediately resumes tongue flicking and search behavior, probably as a result of a history of finding clumped prey such as eggs and babies in nests. Gila monsters are able to climb trees and cacti in search of eggs.
Venom is produced in modified salivary glands in the Gila monster's lower jaw, unlike snakes, whose venom is produced in the upper jaw. The Gila monster lacks the musculature to forcibly inject the venom; instead, the venom is propelled from the gland to the tooth by chewing. Capillary action brings the venom out of the tooth and into the victim. The teeth are loosely anchored, which allows them to be broken off and replaced throughout life. Gila monsters have been observed to flip over while biting the victim, presumably to aid the flow of the venom into the wound. Because the Gila monster's prey consists mainly of eggs, small animals, and otherwise "helpless" prey, it is thought that the Gila monster's venom evolved for defensive rather than for hunting use. A defensive use would explain the Gila monster's bright warning coloration.
Although the venom is a neurotoxin as toxic as that of a Coral Snake, H. suspectum produces only small amounts.[9] The Gila monster's bite is normally not fatal to adult humans. There are no confirmed reports of fatalities after 1939, and those prior to that year are suspect due to the primitive dangerous "treatments." The Gila monster can bite quickly (especially by swinging its head sideways) and hold on tenaciously and painfully. If bitten, the victim may need to fully submerge the attacking lizard in water to break free from its bite. Symptoms of the bite include excruciating pain, edema, and weakness associated with a rapid drop in blood pressure. More than a dozen peptides and proteins have been isolated from the Gila monster's venom, including hyaluronidase, serotonin, phospholipase A2, and several kallikrein-like glycoproteins responsible for the pain and edema caused by a bite. Four potentially lethal toxins have been isolated from the Gila monster's venom, including horridum venom, which causes hemorrhage in internal organs and exophthalmos (bulging of the eyes), and helothermine, which causes lethargy, partial paralysis of the limbs, and hypothermia in rats. However, the constituents most focused on are the bioactive peptides, including helodermin, helospectin, exendin-3, and exendin-4. Most are similar in form to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), which relaxes smooth muscle and regulates water and electrolyte secretion between the small and large intestines. These bioactive peptides are able to bind to VIP receptors in many different human tissues. One of these, helodermin, has been shown to inhibit the growth of lung cancer.
The Gila monster emerges from hibernation in the months of January or February and mates in May and June. The male initiates courtship by flicking his tongue to search for the female's scent. If the female rejects his advances, she will bite him and crawl away. When successful, copulation has been observed to last from 15 minutes to as long as 2.5 hours. The female will lay eggs in July or August, burying them in sand 12.7 centimetres (5.0 in) below the surface. The clutch consists of two to twelve eggs, with five being the average clutch. The process of incubation lasts nine months, as the hatchlings emerge during the months of April through June the following year. The hatchlings are about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long and are able to bite and inject venom upon hatching. The juveniles typically have larger bands of pink scales than adults, although the banded Gila monster (H. s. cinctum) has a tendency to retain the band pattern. H. suspectum sexually matures at 3–5 years. After egg-laying, adult Gila monsters gradually spend less time on the surface to avoid the hottest part of the summer (although they may be active in the evening), eventually starting their hibernation around November.
Little is known about the social behavior of H. suspectum, but they have been observed engaging in male-male combat, in which the dominant male lies on top of the subordinate one and pins it with its front and hind limbs. Both lizards arch their bodies, pushing against each other and twisting around in an effort to gain the dominant position. A wrestling match ends when the pressure exerted forces them to separate, although bouts may be repeated over a continuous amount of time. These bouts are typically observed just before the mating season. It is thought that those with greater strength and endurance win more often and enjoy greater reproductive success. Although the Gila monster has a low metabolism and one of the lowest lizard sprint speeds, it has one of the highest aerobic scope values (the increase in oxygen consumption from rest to maximum metabolic exertion) among lizards, allowing them to engage in intense aerobic activity for a sustained period of time. It has been observed that males have a higher aerobic scope than females, presumably because of sexual selection for a trait advantageous in prolonged combat. The Gila monster may live up to 20 years in the wild, or 30 in captivity.
Reptile House
Bronx Zoo New York
How peptides penetrate through cellular membranes, form pores or disintegrate them is a fundamental problem in biology. Identifying the factors and physical mechanisms that determine which mechanism dominates and why, is fundamental for development of antimicrobial peptides and drug delivery.
Here we study a class of peptides called cell-penetrating peptides (CPP). They are able to penetrate membranes and carry pharmacological compounds. a promising strategy for drug delivery and delivery of genetic material into cells. The physical mechanisms governing the behavior are, however, not known.
We have used large-scale Molecular Dynamics simulations to study the interactions of transportan with a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayer. We used both equilibrium MD as well as Umbrella Sampling to characterize the peptide's behavior and to compute the free energy profile.
The movie shows two transportans interacting with a DPPC membrane.
Simulation details:
- Gromacs software
- Eight individual simulations up to 780 ns.
- Separate Umbrella Sampling simulation to determine free energy
Who:
This study was done in the SoftSimu Group
References:
1. Molecular dynamics studies of transportan interacting with a DPPC bilayer, Amir Mohsen Pourmousa, Jirasak Wong-ekkabut, M. Patra, and Mikko Karttunen, J. Phys. Chem. B 117, 230–241 (2013).
Entry in category 1. ©Ali Yasin Sonay; See also bit.ly/snsf_comp_copy
This image was taken on 9th February 2017 with a Zeiss LSM 780 Confocal Microscope equipped with a Chameleon laser that generates high energy pulses, allowing multiphoton microscopy such as Second Harmonic Generation (SHG). The image consists of Amyloid Beta's core motif diphenylalanine peptides assembled into large scale tubular structures which generate SHG Signal. The sample was illuminated at 850 nm high energy laser light and the signal was collected at 425 nm. Image was taken with a 40x Zeiss objective with 1.1 NA using water immersion. The whole image consists of multiple images each around 210 micron by 210 micron with 1024x1024 resolution with 4 times line averaging. Combined together using Zeiss Tile Scan and Stitching functions, these individual images capture the large scale structure. False coloring and contrast was adjusted using Photoshop.
This image was produced using diphenylalanine peptides which are not soluble in water. These peptides are the core motif of Amyloid Beta fragments that cause Alzheimer's Disease and are responsible for the formation of amyloid plaques. It was discovered that these peptides form peptide nanotubes when they are in water. In this image, we see peptide nanotubes assembling in a controlled fashion with elaborate structures. As the solution dries, these peptides who wish to avoid contact with water assume shapes that would minimize their interaction with it. If there is not enough hydrophobic peptide in the solution to be in contact with, they form highly ordered shapes leading to large scale assemblies. This behavior change in the peptides based on their concentration is hidden within their properties and is not readily apparent when they are still in solution. This process is called self-assembly in scientific terms where they switch from a chaotic state into an ordered state. In non-scientific terms these peptides have generated Order from Chaos. ¦ Image#1_258
The domestic silk moth (Bombyx mori) is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva (or caterpillar) of a silk moth. The silkworm is of particular economic value, being a primary producer of silk. The silkworm's preferred food are the leaves of white mulberry, though they may eat other species of mulberry, and even leaves of other plants like the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths (other species of Bombyx) are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, existed for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and then the West. The conventional process of sericulture kills the silkworm in the pupal stage. The domestic silk moth was domesticated from the wild silk moth Bombyx mandarina, which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far eastern regions of Russia. The domestic silk moth derives from Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean stock.
Silk moths were unlikely to have been domestically bred before the Neolithic period. Before then, the tools to manufacture quantities of silk thread had not been developed. The domesticated B. mori and the wild B. mandarina can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids. It is unknown if B. mori can hybridize with other Bombyx species. Compared to most members in the genus Bombyx, domestic silk moths have lost their color pigments as well as their ability to fly.
Types
Mulberry silkworms can be divided into three major categories based on seasonal brood frequency. Univoltine silkworms produce only one brood a season, and they are generally found in and around Europe. Univoltine eggs must hibernate through the winter, ultimately cross-fertilizing in spring. Bivoltine varieties are normally found in East Asia, and their accelerated breeding process is made possible by slightly warmer climates. In addition, there are polyvoltine silkworms found only in the tropics. Their eggs typically hatch within 9 to 12 days, meaning there can be up to eight generations of larvae throughout the year.
Description and life cycle
Larvae
Eggs take about 14 days to hatch into larvae, which eat continuously. They have a preference for white mulberry, having an attraction to the mulberry odorant cis-jasmone. They are not monophagous, since they can eat other species of Morus, as well as some other Moraceae, mostly Osage orange. They are covered with tiny black hairs. When the color of their heads turns darker, it indicates they are about to molt. After molting, the larval phase of the silkworms emerge white, naked, and with little horns on their backs.
Pupae (cocoon)
After they have molted four times, their bodies become slightly yellow, and the skin becomes tighter. The larvae then prepare to enter the pupal phase of their life cycle, and enclose themselves in a cocoon made up of raw silk produced by the salivary glands. The final molt from larva to pupa takes place within the cocoon, which provides a layer of protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state. Many other Lepidoptera produce cocoons, but only a few — the Bombycidae, in particular the genus Bombyx, and the Saturniidae, in particular the genus Antheraea — have been exploited for fabric production.
The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft) long. The fibers are fine and lustrous, about 10 μm (0.0004 in) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make one pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds (32 million kg) of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion cocoons.
If the animal survives through the pupal phase of its life cycle, it releases proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so it can emerge as an adult moth. These enzymes are destructive to the silk and can cause the silk fibers to break down from over a mile in length to segments of random length, which reduces the value of the silk threads, although these damaged silk cocoons are still used as "stuffing" available in China and elsewhere in the production of duvets, jackets, and other purposes. To prevent this, silkworm cocoons are boiled in water. The heat kills the silkworms, and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm is eaten.
As the process of harvesting the silk from the cocoon kills the pupa, sericulture has been criticized by animal welfare and rights activists. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing". This led to Gandhi's promotion of cotton spinning machines, an example of which can be seen at the Gandhi Institute, and an extension of this principle has led to the modern production practice known as Ahimsa silk, which is wild silk (from wild and semiwild silk moths) made from the cocoons of moths that are allowed to emerge before the silk is harvested.
Moth
The moth is the adult phase of the silk worm's life cycle. Silk moths have a wingspan of 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) and a white, hairy body. Females are about two to three times bulkier than males (due to carrying many eggs). All adult Bombycidae moths have reduced mouthparts and do not feed.
The wings of the silk moth develop from larval imaginal disks. The moth is not capable of functional flight, in contrast to the wild B. mandarina and other Bombyx species, whose males fly to meet females. Some may emerge with the ability to lift off and stay airborne, but sustained flight cannot be achieved as their bodies are too big and heavy for their small wings.
Adult silk moth
The legs of the silk moth develop from the silkworm's larval (thoracic) legs. Developmental genes like Distalless and extradenticle have been used to mark leg development. In addition, removing specific segments of the thoracic legs at different ages of the larva resulted in the adult silk moth not developing the corresponding adult leg segments.
Research
Due to its small size and ease of culture, the silkworm has become a model organism in the study of lepidopteran and general arthropod biology. Fundamental findings on pheromones, hormones, brain structures, and physiology have been made with the silkworm.[citation needed] One example of this was the molecular identification of the first known pheromone, bombykol, which required extracts from 500,000 individuals, due to the small quantities of pheromone produced by any individual silkworm.[citation needed]
Many research works have focused on the genetics of silkworms and the possibility of genetic engineering. Many hundreds of strains are maintained, and over 400 Mendelian mutations have been described. Another source suggests 1,000 inbred domesticated strains are kept worldwide. One useful development for the silk industry is silkworms that can feed on food other than mulberry leaves, including an artificial diet. Research on the genome also raises the possibility of genetically engineering silkworms to produce proteins, including pharmacological drugs, in the place of silk proteins. Bombyx mori females are also one of the few organisms with homologous chromosomes held together only by the synaptonemal complex (and not crossovers) during meiosis.
Kraig Biocraft Laboratories has used research from the Universities of Wyoming and Notre Dame in a collaborative effort to create a silkworm that is genetically altered to produce spider silk. In September 2010, the effort was announced as successful.
Researchers at Tufts developed scaffolds made of spongy silk that feel and look similar to human tissue. They are implanted during reconstructive surgery to support or restructure damaged ligaments, tendons, and other tissue. They also created implants made of silk and drug compounds which can be implanted under the skin for steady and gradual time release of medications.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab experimented with silkworms to see what they would weave when left on surfaces with different curvatures. They found that on particularly straight webs of lines, the silkworms would connect neighboring lines with silk, weaving directly onto the given shape. Using this knowledge they built a silk pavilion with 6,500 silkworms over a number of days.
Silkworms have been used in antibiotics discovery, as they have several advantageous traits compared to other invertebrate models. Antibiotics such as lysocin E, a non-ribosomal peptide synthesized by Lysobacter sp. RH2180-5 and GPI0363 are among the notable antibiotics discovered using silkworms. In addition, antibiotics with appropriate pharmacokinetic parameters were selected that correlated with therapeutic activity in the silkworm infection model.
Silkworms have also been used for the identification of novel virulence factors of pathogenic microorganisms. A first large-scale screening using transposon mutant library of Staphylococcus aureus USA300 strain was performed which identified 8 new genes with roles in full virulence of S. aureus. Another study by the same team of researchers revealed, for the first time, the role of YjbH in virulence and oxidative stress tolerance in vivo.
Domestication
The domestic species B. mori, compared to the wild species (e.g., B. mandarina), has increased cocoon size, body size, growth rate, and efficiency of its digestion. It has gained tolerance to human presence and handling, and also to living in crowded conditions. The domestic silk moths cannot fly, so the males need human assistance in finding a mate, and it lacks fear of potential predators. The native color pigments have also been lost, so the domestic silk moths are leucistic, since camouflage is not useful when they only live in captivity. These changes have made B. mori entirely dependent upon humans for survival, and it does not exist in the wild. The eggs are kept in incubators to aid in their hatching.
Breeding
Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworms from a commercial point of view. The major objectives are improving fecundity, the health of larvae, quantity of cocoon and silk production, and disease resistance. Healthy larvae lead to a healthy cocoon crop. Health is dependent on factors such as better pupation rate, fewer dead larvae in the mountage, shorter larval duration (this lessens the chance of infection) and bluish-tinged fifth-instar larvae (which are healthier than the reddish-brown ones). Quantity of cocoon and silk produced are directly related to the pupation rate and larval weight. Healthier larvae have greater pupation rates and cocoon weights. Quality of cocoon and silk depends on a number of factors, including genetics.
Hobby raising and school projects
In the U.S., teachers may sometimes introduce the insect life cycle to their students by raising domestic silk moths in the classroom as a science project. Students have a chance to observe complete life cycles of insects from eggs to larvae to pupae to moths.
The domestic silk moth has been raised as a hobby in countries such as China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Iran. Children often pass on the eggs to the next generation, creating a non-commercial population. The experience provides children with the opportunity to witness the life cycle of silk moths.
Genome
The full genome of the domestic silk moth was published in 2008 by the International Silkworm Genome Consortium. Draft sequences were published in 2004.
The genome of the domestic silk moth is mid-range with a genome size around 432 million base pairs. A notable feature is that 43.6% of the genome are repetitive sequences, most of which are transposable elements. At least 3,000 silkworm genes are unique, and have no homologous equivalents in other genomes. The silkworm's ability to produce large amounts of silk correlates with the presence of specific tRNA clusters, as well as some clustered sericin genes. Additionally, the silkworm's ability to consume toxic mulberry leaves is linked to specialized sucrase genes, which appear to have been acquired from bacterial genes.
High genetic variability has been found in domestic lines of silk moths, though this is less than that among wild silk moths (about 83 percent of wild genetic variation). This suggests a single event of domestication, and that it happened over a short period of time, with a large number of wild silkworms having been collected for domestication. Major questions, however, remain unanswered, according to Jun Wang, co-author of a related study published in 2008, who stated: "Whether this event was in a single location or in a short period of time in several locations cannot be deciphered from the data", and research also has yet to identify the area in China where domestication arose.
As food
In Assam, India, they are boiled for extracting silk and the boiled pupae are eaten directly with salt or fried with chili pepper or herbs as a snack or dish.
In Korea, they are boiled and seasoned to make a popular snack food known as beondegi (번데기).
In China, street vendors sell roasted silk moth pupae.
In Japan, silkworms are usually served as a tsukudani (佃煮), i.e., boiled in a sweet-sour sauce made with soy sauce and sugar.
In Vietnam, this is known as nhộng tằm, usually boiled, seasoned with fish sauce, then stir-fried and eaten as main dish with rice.
In Thailand, roasted silkworm is often sold at open markets. They are also sold as packaged snacks.
Silkworms have also been proposed for cultivation by astronauts as space food on long-term missions.
In culture
In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress named Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, also known as Xi Lingshi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people and it became widespread. Many more legends about the silkworm are told.
The Chinese guarded their knowledge of silk, but, according to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk manufacture, "hiding silkworms in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the first century AD. About AD 550, Christian monks are said to have smuggled silkworms hidden in a hollow stick out of China, selling the secret to the eastern Romans.
Vietnam
According to a Vietnamese folk tale, silkworms were originally a beautiful housemaid running away from her gruesome masters and living in the mountain, where she was protected by the mountain god. One day, a lecherous god from the heaven came down to Earth to seduce women. When he saw her, he tried to rape her but she was able to escape and was hidden by the mountain god. The lecherous god then tried to find and capture her by setting a net trap around the mountain. With the blessing of Guanyin, the girl was able to safely swallow that net into her stomach. Finally, the evil god summons his fellow thunder and rain gods to attack and burn away her clothes, forcing her to hide in a cave. Naked and cold, she spit out the net and used it as a blanket to sleep. The girl died in her sleep, and as she wished to continue to help other people, her soul turned into silkworms.
Feeding
Bombyx mori is essentially monophagous, exclusively eating mulberry leaves (Morus spp.). By developing techniques for using artificial diets, the amino acids needed for development are known. The various amino acids can be classified into five categories:
Those which, when removed, cause larval development to stop entirely: lysine, leucine, isoleucine, histidine, arginine, valine, tryptophan, threonine, phenylalanine, methionine
Those which, when removed, impede later stages of larval development: glutamate and aspartate
Semi-essential amino acids, with negative effects that can be eliminated by supplementing with other amino acids: proline (ornithine can be substituted)
Non-essential amino acids that can by replaced through biosynthesis by the larvae: alanine, glycine, serine
Non-essential amino acids that can be removed with no effect at all: tyrosine
Diseases
Beauveria bassiana, a fungus, destroys the entire silkworm body. This fungus usually appears when silkworms are raised under cold conditions with high humidity. This disease is not passed on to the eggs from moths, as the infected silkworms cannot survive to the moth stage. This fungus, however, can spread to other insects.
Grasserie, also known as nuclear polyhedrosis, milky disease, or hanging disease, is caused by infection with the Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (aka Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus, genus Alphabaculovirus). If grasserie is observed in the chawkie stage, then the chawkie larvae must have been infected while hatching or during chawkie rearing. Infected eggs can be disinfected by cleaning their surfaces prior to hatching. Infections can occur as a result of improper hygiene in the chawkie rearing house. This disease develops faster in early instar rearing.
Pébrine is a disease caused by a parasitic microsporidian, Nosema bombycis. Diseased larvae show slow growth, undersized, pale and flaccid bodies, and poor appetite. Tiny black spots appear on larval integument. Additionally, dead larvae remain rubbery and do not undergo putrefaction after death. N. bombycis kills 100% of silkworms hatched from infected eggs. This disease can be carried over from worms to moths, then to eggs and worms again. This microsporidium comes from the food that the silkworms eat. Female moths pass the disease to the eggs, and 100% of silkworms hatching from the diseased eggs die in their worm stage. To prevent this disease, eggs from infected moths are ruled out by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and are colored dark brown before they die. The disease destroys the larva's gut and is caused by viruses or poisonous food.
Several diseases caused by a variety of funguses are collectively named Muscardine.
Linear Motifs (LMs) are protein-protein interaction sites, typically consisting of ~4-20 amino acid residues that are often found in disordered proteins or regions, and function largely independent from other parts of the proteins they are found in. These short sequence patterns are involved in a wide spectrum of biological functions including cell cycle control, transcriptional regulation, enzymatic catalysis, cell signaling, protein trafficking, etc. Even though LMs may adopt defined structures in complexes with targets, which can be determined by conventional methods, their uncomplexed states can be highly dynamic and difficult to characterize.
In this movie, the free state dynamics of an exoenzyme S peptide (GLLDALDL) are shown relative to its bound state conformation with 14-3-3 (PDB id: 2C23). The projection of the trajectory onto the first two principal components of the backbone dihedral angle (dPCA) Gibbs free energy landscape is also shown.
MD results show that the ExoS (exoenzyme S) peptide has a diverse structural ensemble, especially in the unfolded state. Despite this, the peptide does have some clear structural preferences, which are largely biased towards conformations with bound state resemblance.
Proteins explain very briefly:
- This is a link to a very brief intro to proteins disordered and regular. Note, the presentation at this link has lots of links to outside resources, just hover your mouse around the pics and terms to see the links.
Who:
This study was a collaboration between the SoftSimu Group and Choy Lab
See the publication (pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp407536p) for
further details about the ExoS LM and 5 additional LM systems.
Reference for this work:
Conformational biases of linear motifs, Elio A. Cino, Wing-Yiu Choy, Mikko Karttunen, J. Phys. Chem. B 117, 15943–15957 (2013).
References to our related work combining computation and experiments:
Cino, E.A*.*, Killoran, R.C., Karttunen, M., and Choy, W.Y. (2013) Binding of intrinsically disordered proteins to a protein hub. Scientific Reports. 3: 2305. www.nature.com/srep/2013/130729/srep02305/full/srep02305....
Cino, E. A., Karttunen, M., and Choy, W.Y. (2012) Effects of Molecular Crowding on the Dynamics of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins. PLoS ONE. 7(11): e49876.
www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.004...
Cino, E. A., Choy, W.Y., and Karttunen, M. (2012) Comparison of Secondary Structure Formation Using 10 Different Force Fields in Microsecond Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation, 8: 2725-2740. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ct300323g
Cino, E. A., Wong-Ekkabut, J., Karttunen, M., and Choy, W. Y. (2011). Microsecond molecular dynamics simulations of intrinsically disordered proteins involved in the oxidative stress response. PLoS ONE. 6(11) e27371.
www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.002...
References to our related experimental work:
Khan, H., Cino, E.A., Brickenden A., Fan, J., Yang, D. and Choy, W.Y. (2013) Fuzzy Complex Formation between the Intrinsically Disordered Prothymosin a and the Kelch Domain of Keap1 Involved in the Oxidative Stress Response. Journal of Molecular Biology. 425(6) 1011-1027. *Cover article; Recommended by Faculty of 1000. *
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022283613000089
Cino, E., Fan, J., Yang, D., and Choy, W.Y. (2012) 1H, 15N and 13C backbone resonance assignments of the Kelch domain of mouse Keap1. Biomolecular NMR Assignments.
Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh City.
Ben Thanh Market.
Kopi luwak , or civet coffee refers to the beans of coffee berries once they have been eaten and excreted by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and other civets. The name is also used for brewed coffee made from those beans. The civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In the digestive tract, the civet's proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape.
The method of collected feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which caged civets are force fed the coffee beans. This method of production has has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets due to "horrific conditions" including isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process of passing through the civets digestive process improves the flavor profile.
Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn, where popular, chemically simulated versions are also produced.
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Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is coffee that includes partially digested coffee cherries, eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Fermentation occurs as the cherries pass through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected.
Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, and in East Timor. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in farms in the islands of the Philippines, where the product is called kape motit in the Cordillera region, kapé alamíd in Tagalog areas, kapé melô or kapé musang in Mindanao, and kahawa kubing in the Sulu Archipelago. Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection – civets choosing to eat only certain cherries – and digestion – biological or chemical mechanisms in the animal's digestive tract altering the composition of the coffee cherries.
The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force-fed the cherries. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets and the horrific conditions they are made to live in, which include isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate.
Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with retail prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogram.
HISTORY
The origin of kopi luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830–70), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian palm civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage. The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon became their favourite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even during the colonial era.
PRODUCTION
The luak, that's a small catlike animal, gorges after dark on the most ripe, the best of our crop. It digests the fruit and expels the beans, which our farm people collect, wash, and roast, a real delicacy. Something about the natural fermentation that occurs in the luak's stomach seems to make the difference. For Javanese, this is the best of all coffees—our Kopi luak.
— Doyo Soeyono Kertosastro, Indonesian Coffee Farmer, March 1981 National Geographic
Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee. Luwak is a local name of the Asian palm civet in Sumatra. Palm civets are primarily frugivorous, feeding on berries and pulpy fruits such as figs and palms. Civets also eat small vertebrates, insects, ripe fruits and seeds.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs as the civets choose which cherries to eat – i.e. those that are most ripe and flawless. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the cherries for the fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's protease enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids.
Early production began when beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory. On farms, civets are either caged or allowed to roam within defined boundaries.
Coffee berries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers.
Despite being in contact with feces and pathogenic organisms, the beans contain negligible amounts of the enteric (pathogenic) organisms associated with feces. Moreover, the "cherry" or endocarp surrounding the bean is not completely digested by the luwak, and after being collected, the farmer performs thorough washing and removes the endocarp. The final roasting of the beans would, additionally, eliminate any remaining bacteria.
Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer of kopi luwak. Sumatran civet coffee beans are mostly an early arabica variety cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the 17th century. The major Sumatran kopi luwak production area is in Lampung, Bengkulu and Aceh especially the Gayo region, Takengon. Tagalog kape alamid comes from civets fed on a mixture of coffee beans and is sold in the Batangas region along with gift shops near airports in the Philippines.
Vietnam has two farms with 300 wild civets in Dak Lak, while in Mindanao island of the Philippines, has two farms with 200 (in Davao City) and 100 (Iligan City) wild civets. But the archipelago of Indonesia where the famous kopi luwak was first discovered and produced is leading in supplying the world market for almost three centuries, where many small-scale civet farms are proliferating in the countryside.
Several studies have examined the process in which the animal's stomach acids and enzymes digest the beans' covering and ferment the beans. Research by food scientist Massimo Marcone at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada showed that the civet's endogenous digestive secretions seep into the beans. These secretions carry proteolytic enzymes which break down the beans' proteins, yielding shorter peptides and more free amino acids. The proteins also undergo non-enzymatic Maillard browning reactions in the later roasting process. Moreover, while inside a civet the beans begin to germinate by malting which also lowers their bitterness. Marcone also conducted an analysis on the volatile compounds which are responsible for the coffee's flavour and aroma, showing that there are significant differences from regular coffee. He concluded that:
Protein structure had been altered, reducing bitterness and potentially impacting flavour.
Volatile compounds had significant differences compared to regular coffee, indicating there are changes in flavour.
According to Dr. Davila Cortes, the altered protein structure degrades the effectiveness of the coffee as a diuretic.
TASTE
Few objective assessments of taste are available. Kopi luwak is a name for any beans collected from the excrement of civets, hence the taste may vary with the type and origin of beans ingested, processing subsequent to collection, roasting, aging and brewing. The ability of the civet to select its berries, and other aspects of the civet's diet and health (e.g. stress levels) may also influence the processing and hence taste.
In the coffee industry, kopi luwak is widely regarded as a gimmick or novelty item. The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) states that there is a "general consensus within the industry ... it just tastes bad". A coffee professional cited in the SCAA article was able to compare the same beans with and without the kopi luwak process using a rigorous coffee cupping evaluation. He concluded: "it was apparent that Luwak coffee sold for the story, not superior quality...Using the SCAA cupping scale, the Luwak scored two points below the lowest of the other three coffees. It would appear that the Luwak processing diminishes good acidity and flavor and adds smoothness to the body, which is what many people seem to note as a positive to the coffee.”
Tim Carman, food writer for the Washington Post reviewed kopi luwak available to US consumers and concluded "It tasted just like...Folgers. Stale. Lifeless. Petrified dinosaur droppings steeped in bathtub water. I couldn't finish it."
Some critics claim more generally that kopi luwak is simply bad coffee, purchased for novelty rather than taste. Massimo Marcone, who performed extensive chemical tests on the beans, was unable to conclude if anything about their properties made them superior for purposes of making coffee. He employed several professional coffee tasters (called "cuppers") in a blind taste test. While the cuppers were able to distinguish the kopi luwak as distinct from the other samples, they had nothing remarkable to appraise about it other than it was less acidic and had less body, tasting "thin". Marcone remarked "It's not that people are after that distinct flavor. They are after the rarity of the coffee".
IMITATION
Several commercial processes attempt to replicate the digestive process of the civets without animal involvement.
Researchers with the University of Florida have been issued with a patent for one such process. Brooklyn-based food startup Afineur has also developed a patented fermentation technology that reproduces some of the taste aspects of Kopi Luwak while improving coffee bean taste and nutritional profile.
Vietnamese companies sell an imitation kopi luwak, made using an enzyme soak which they claim replicates the civet's digestive process.
Imitation has several motivations. The high price of kopi luwak drives the search for a way to produce kopi luwak in large quantities. Kopi luwak production involves a great deal of labour, whether farmed or wild-gathered. The small production quantity and the labor involved in production contribute to the coffee's high cost. Imitation may be a response to the decrease in the civet population.
ANIMAL WELFARE
Initially, civet coffee beans were picked from wild civet excrement found around coffee plantations. This unusual process contributed to its rarity and subsequently its high price. More recently, growing numbers of intensive civet "farms" have been established and operated across Southeast Asia, confining tens of thousands of animals to live in battery cages and be force-fed. Concerns were raised over the safety of civet coffee after evidence suggested that the SARS virus originated from palm civets.
'"The conditions are awful, much like battery chickens", said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of the conservation NGO, TRAFFIC south-east Asia. "The civets are taken from the wild and have to endure horrific conditions. They fight to stay together but they are separated and have to bear a very poor diet in very small cages. There is a high mortality rate and for some species of civet, there's a real conservation risk. It's spiralling out of control. But there's not much public awareness of how it's actually made. People need to be aware that tens of thousands of civets are being kept in these conditions. It would put people off their coffee if they knew"'.
A 2013 investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia found wild-caught civets on farms in Indonesia and the Philippines. The animals were deprived of exercise, a proper diet, and space. Video footage from the investigation shows abnormal behaviours such as repeated pacing, circling, or biting the bars of their cages. The animals often lose their fur. A BBC investigation revealed similar findings.
Tony Wild, the coffee executive responsible for bringing kopi luwak to the Western world, has stated he no longer supports using kopi luwak due to animal cruelty and launched a campaign called "Cut the Crap" to halt the use of kopi luwak.
Farmers using caged civets in Takengon, north Sumatra, confirmed to the BBC that they supplied kopi luwak beans to exporters whose produce ends up in Europe and Asia.
Intensive farming is also criticised by traditional farmers because the civets do not select what they eat, so the cherries which are fed to them in order to flavor the coffee are of poor quality compared to those beans collected from the wild. According to an officer from the TRAFFIC conservation programme, the trade in civets to make kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild civet populations.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Kopi luwak is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, selling for between US$100 and $500 per pound in 2010. The specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets, is sold at US$500 per kilogram. Most customers are Asian, especially those originating from Japan, China and South Korea. Sources vary widely as to annual worldwide production.
The price of farmed (considered low-grade by connoisseurs) kopi luwak in large Indonesian supermarkets is from US$100 per kilogram (five times the price of a high quality local arabica coffee).
The price paid to collectors in the Philippines is closer to US$20 per kilogram.
Some specialty coffee shops sell cups of brewed kopi luwak for US$35–80.
AUTHENTICITY AND FRAUD
Investigations by PETA and the BBC found fraud to be rife in the kopi luwak industry, with producers willing to label coffee from caged civets with a "wild sourced" or similar label.
Genuine kopi luwak from wild civets is difficult to purchase in Indonesia and proving it is not fake is very difficult – there is little enforcement regarding use of the name "kopi luwak", and there's even a local cheap coffee brand named "Luwak", which costs under US$3 per kilogram but is occasionally sold online under the guise of real kopi luwak.
VARIATIONS
There are reports of a kopi luwak type process occurring naturally with muntjac and birds. Bat coffee is another variation that is in demand. Bats feed on the ripest coffee and fruits and spit out the seeds. These seeds are dried and processed to make coffee with a slight fruity flavor.
IN CULTURE
In the movie The Bucket List, billionaire health care magnate Edward Cole enjoys drinking kopi luwak, but is unaware of how it is produced. Carter Chambers explains how civets defecate kopi luwak coffee beans and that its gastric juices give the unique aroma to this coffee.
WIKIPEDIA
HEALING - non-edible mushrooms. Lives as a saprophyte on rotten stumps and branches. It grows on trunks or branches of deciduous trees throughout the year. The fertile body is in the form of hats that are stacked over each other. Broad range of 3-7cm, thin, with black, bluish, brown, reddish areas, which are spread irregularly-concentric. When there is more moisture then this is the area of greenish algae that settle there. Torus is white, and cream in the elderly. It is very healing. Ergosterol-containing substances, fungisterol, polysaccharide peptide PSP and PSK, which are the main active fraction of his acting on the immune system of man. It stimulates the production of interferon. This is a healing substance for cancer of the colon, breast and lung. It is effective in the treatment of hepatitis, B, and acute hepatitis. Clinically tested in Japan, Russia and the United States.
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Thanks for allowing me to participate in the Emergence photo group and discussions. My contribution is not a photo, but a figure describing simulations from a recent paper. I have a lot of nature photos that show emergent patterns and I hope to share these with you, but I figured I would start with this material since it is a direct demonstration of emergence (loosely defined here as the creation of simple patterns from a complex set of rules).
You may be aware that amino acids, the building blocks of proteins in our body, share the same chirality or handedness of chemical structure. While it is unclear how this homochirality evolved out of a primordial mixture of left and right-handed amino acids, we know today that homochirality is an important component of regular secondary structures found in many proteins such as the alpha-helix, shown above, the beta-sheet and others.
However, there are a few cases where organisms will synthesize heterochiral peptides through special synthetic pathways - these often function as toxins or antimicrobials - because of their deviation from natural chemical structure - host defense mechanisms often cannot adapt to these chemicals.
The above figures show a simulation of a short 11-residue protein chain docking against an alpha helix. When a poly-alanine chain is allowed to vary both its conformation (bending, twisting) and the chirality of individual positions - the simulation consistently minimizes to a homochiral helix, either with a left handed twist or a right handed twist. This is amazing considering this is only one of 2^11 possible solutions.
Proteins are great examples of emergent structure. Evolution has tuned them to resolve a well defined structure quickly. It appears homochirality is one property that favors fast folding, stable proteins. Hence, homochirality seems to be an emergent property of protein evolution.
For more info, contact me, or see:
Nanda & DeGrado "Simulated Evolution of Emergent Chiral Structures in Polyalanine", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2004
Nanda & DeGrado "Computational Design of Heterochiral Peptides Against a Helical Target", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2006
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Kopi luwak (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈkopi ˈlu.aʔ]), or civet coffee, is coffee that includes partially digested coffee cherries, eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). Fermentation occurs as the cherries pass through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected.
Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, and in East Timor. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in farms in the islands of the Philippines, where the product is called kape motit in the Cordillera region, kapé alamíd in Tagalog areas, kapé melô or kapé musang in Mindanao, and kahawa kubing in the Sulu Archipelago. Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection – civets choosing to eat only certain cherries – and digestion – biological or chemical mechanisms in the animal's digestive tract altering the composition of the coffee cherries.
The traditional method of collecting feces from wild civets has given way to intensive farming methods in which civets in battery cage systems are force-fed the cherries. This method of production has raised ethical concerns about the treatment of civets and the horrific conditions they are made to live in, which include isolation, poor diet, small cages and a high mortality rate.
Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with retail prices reaching €550 / US$700 per kilogram.
HISTORY
The origin of kopi luwak is closely connected with the history of coffee production in Indonesia. In the early 18th century the Dutch established the cash-crop coffee plantations in their colony in the Dutch East Indies islands of Java and Sumatra, including Arabica coffee introduced from Yemen. During the era of Cultuurstelsel (1830–70), the Dutch prohibited the native farmers and plantation workers from picking coffee fruits for their own use. Still, the native farmers wanted to have a taste of the famed coffee beverage. Soon, the natives learned that certain species of musang or luwak (Asian palm civet) consumed the coffee fruits, yet they left the coffee seeds undigested in their droppings. The natives collected these luwaks' coffee seed droppings, then cleaned, roasted and ground them to make their own coffee beverage. The fame of aromatic civet coffee spread from locals to Dutch plantation owners and soon became their favourite, yet because of its rarity and unusual process, the civet coffee was expensive even during the colonial era.
PRODUCTION
The luak, that's a small catlike animal, gorges after dark on the most ripe, the best of our crop. It digests the fruit and expels the beans, which our farm people collect, wash, and roast, a real delicacy. Something about the natural fermentation that occurs in the luak's stomach seems to make the difference. For Javanese, this is the best of all coffees—our Kopi luak.
— Doyo Soeyono Kertosastro, Indonesian Coffee Farmer, March 1981 National Geographic
Kopi is the Indonesian word for coffee. Luwak is a local name of the Asian palm civet in Sumatra. Palm civets are primarily frugivorous, feeding on berries and pulpy fruits such as figs and palms. Civets also eat small vertebrates, insects, ripe fruits and seeds.
Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms, selection and digestion. Selection occurs as the civets choose which cherries to eat – i.e. those that are most ripe and flawless. Digestive mechanisms may improve the flavor profile of the coffee beans that have been eaten. The civet eats the cherries for the fleshy pulp, then in the digestive tract, fermentation occurs. The civet's protease enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids.
Early production began when beans were gathered in the wild from where a civet would defecate as a means to mark its territory. On farms, civets are either caged or allowed to roam within defined boundaries.
Coffee berries are eaten by a civet for their fruit pulp. After spending about a day and a half in the civet's digestive tract the beans are then defecated in clumps, having kept their shape and still covered with some of the fleshy berry's inner layers.
Despite being in contact with feces and pathogenic organisms, the beans contain negligible amounts of the enteric (pathogenic) organisms associated with feces. Moreover, the "cherry" or endocarp surrounding the bean is not completely digested by the luwak, and after being collected, the farmer performs thorough washing and removes the endocarp. The final roasting of the beans would, additionally, eliminate any remaining bacteria.
Sumatra is the world's largest regional producer of kopi luwak. Sumatran civet coffee beans are mostly an early arabica variety cultivated in the Indonesian archipelago since the 17th century. The major Sumatran kopi luwak production area is in Lampung, Bengkulu and Aceh especially the Gayo region, Takengon. Tagalog kape alamid comes from civets fed on a mixture of coffee beans and is sold in the Batangas region along with gift shops near airports in the Philippines.
Vietnam has two farms with 300 wild civets in Dak Lak, while in Mindanao island of the Philippines, has two farms with 200 (in Davao City) and 100 (Iligan City) wild civets. But the archipelago of Indonesia where the famous kopi luwak was first discovered and produced is leading in supplying the world market for almost three centuries, where many small-scale civet farms are proliferating in the countryside.
Several studies have examined the process in which the animal's stomach acids and enzymes digest the beans' covering and ferment the beans. Research by food scientist Massimo Marcone at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada showed that the civet's endogenous digestive secretions seep into the beans. These secretions carry proteolytic enzymes which break down the beans' proteins, yielding shorter peptides and more free amino acids. The proteins also undergo non-enzymatic Maillard browning reactions in the later roasting process. Moreover, while inside a civet the beans begin to germinate by malting which also lowers their bitterness. Marcone also conducted an analysis on the volatile compounds which are responsible for the coffee's flavour and aroma, showing that there are significant differences from regular coffee. He concluded that:
Protein structure had been altered, reducing bitterness and potentially impacting flavour.
Volatile compounds had significant differences compared to regular coffee, indicating there are changes in flavour.
According to Dr. Davila Cortes, the altered protein structure degrades the effectiveness of the coffee as a diuretic.
TASTE
Few objective assessments of taste are available. Kopi luwak is a name for any beans collected from the excrement of civets, hence the taste may vary with the type and origin of beans ingested, processing subsequent to collection, roasting, aging and brewing. The ability of the civet to select its berries, and other aspects of the civet's diet and health (e.g. stress levels) may also influence the processing and hence taste.
In the coffee industry, kopi luwak is widely regarded as a gimmick or novelty item. The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) states that there is a "general consensus within the industry ... it just tastes bad". A coffee professional cited in the SCAA article was able to compare the same beans with and without the kopi luwak process using a rigorous coffee cupping evaluation. He concluded: "it was apparent that Luwak coffee sold for the story, not superior quality...Using the SCAA cupping scale, the Luwak scored two points below the lowest of the other three coffees. It would appear that the Luwak processing diminishes good acidity and flavor and adds smoothness to the body, which is what many people seem to note as a positive to the coffee.”
Tim Carman, food writer for the Washington Post reviewed kopi luwak available to US consumers and concluded "It tasted just like...Folgers. Stale. Lifeless. Petrified dinosaur droppings steeped in bathtub water. I couldn't finish it."
Some critics claim more generally that kopi luwak is simply bad coffee, purchased for novelty rather than taste. Massimo Marcone, who performed extensive chemical tests on the beans, was unable to conclude if anything about their properties made them superior for purposes of making coffee. He employed several professional coffee tasters (called "cuppers") in a blind taste test. While the cuppers were able to distinguish the kopi luwak as distinct from the other samples, they had nothing remarkable to appraise about it other than it was less acidic and had less body, tasting "thin". Marcone remarked "It's not that people are after that distinct flavor. They are after the rarity of the coffee".
IMITATION
Several commercial processes attempt to replicate the digestive process of the civets without animal involvement.
Researchers with the University of Florida have been issued with a patent for one such process. Brooklyn-based food startup Afineur has also developed a patented fermentation technology that reproduces some of the taste aspects of Kopi Luwak while improving coffee bean taste and nutritional profile.
Vietnamese companies sell an imitation kopi luwak, made using an enzyme soak which they claim replicates the civet's digestive process.
Imitation has several motivations. The high price of kopi luwak drives the search for a way to produce kopi luwak in large quantities. Kopi luwak production involves a great deal of labour, whether farmed or wild-gathered. The small production quantity and the labor involved in production contribute to the coffee's high cost. Imitation may be a response to the decrease in the civet population.
ANIMAL WELFARE
Initially, civet coffee beans were picked from wild civet excrement found around coffee plantations. This unusual process contributed to its rarity and subsequently its high price. More recently, growing numbers of intensive civet "farms" have been established and operated across Southeast Asia, confining tens of thousands of animals to live in battery cages and be force-fed. Concerns were raised over the safety of civet coffee after evidence suggested that the SARS virus originated from palm civets.
'"The conditions are awful, much like battery chickens", said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of the conservation NGO, TRAFFIC south-east Asia. "The civets are taken from the wild and have to endure horrific conditions. They fight to stay together but they are separated and have to bear a very poor diet in very small cages. There is a high mortality rate and for some species of civet, there's a real conservation risk. It's spiralling out of control. But there's not much public awareness of how it's actually made. People need to be aware that tens of thousands of civets are being kept in these conditions. It would put people off their coffee if they knew"'.
A 2013 investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia found wild-caught civets on farms in Indonesia and the Philippines. The animals were deprived of exercise, a proper diet, and space. Video footage from the investigation shows abnormal behaviours such as repeated pacing, circling, or biting the bars of their cages. The animals often lose their fur. A BBC investigation revealed similar findings.
Tony Wild, the coffee executive responsible for bringing kopi luwak to the Western world, has stated he no longer supports using kopi luwak due to animal cruelty and launched a campaign called "Cut the Crap" to halt the use of kopi luwak.
Farmers using caged civets in Takengon, north Sumatra, confirmed to the BBC that they supplied kopi luwak beans to exporters whose produce ends up in Europe and Asia.
Intensive farming is also criticised by traditional farmers because the civets do not select what they eat, so the cherries which are fed to them in order to flavor the coffee are of poor quality compared to those beans collected from the wild. According to an officer from the TRAFFIC conservation programme, the trade in civets to make kopi luwak may constitute a significant threat to wild civet populations.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Kopi luwak is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, selling for between US$100 and $500 per pound in 2010. The specialty Vietnamese weasel coffee, which is made by collecting coffee beans eaten by wild civets, is sold at US$500 per kilogram. Most customers are Asian, especially those originating from Japan, China and South Korea. Sources vary widely as to annual worldwide production.
The price of farmed (considered low-grade by connoisseurs) kopi luwak in large Indonesian supermarkets is from US$100 per kilogram (five times the price of a high quality local arabica coffee).
The price paid to collectors in the Philippines is closer to US$20 per kilogram.
Some specialty coffee shops sell cups of brewed kopi luwak for US$35–80.
AUTHENTICITY AND FRAUD
Investigations by PETA and the BBC found fraud to be rife in the kopi luwak industry, with producers willing to label coffee from caged civets with a "wild sourced" or similar label.
Genuine kopi luwak from wild civets is difficult to purchase in Indonesia and proving it is not fake is very difficult – there is little enforcement regarding use of the name "kopi luwak", and there's even a local cheap coffee brand named "Luwak", which costs under US$3 per kilogram but is occasionally sold online under the guise of real kopi luwak.
VARIATIONS
There are reports of a kopi luwak type process occurring naturally with muntjac and birds. Bat coffee is another variation that is in demand. Bats feed on the ripest coffee and fruits and spit out the seeds. These seeds are dried and processed to make coffee with a slight fruity flavor.
IN CULTURE
In the movie The Bucket List, billionaire health care magnate Edward Cole enjoys drinking kopi luwak, but is unaware of how it is produced. Carter Chambers explains how civets defecate kopi luwak coffee beans and that its gastric juices give the unique aroma to this coffee.
WIKIPEDIA