Ecdysone oxidase and 3-dehydroecdysone-3β-reductase contribute to the synthesis of ecdysone during early embryonic development of the silkworm.

ABSTRACT: Maternal ecdysteroids regulate a variety of cellular processes during early embryonic development of insects, yet little is known about the genes involved in the biosynthesis of these hormones. In this study, we found that ecdysone oxidase (EO) gene, which encodes an enzyme to catalyze ecdysone (or 20-hydroxyecdysone, 20E) to 3-dehydroecdysone (3DE), was highly expressed in the mature ovaries of the domestic silkworm, Bombyx mori. B. mori EO (BmEO) was localized in the cytoplasm around the yolk granules of oocyte. Furthermore, the down-regulated expression of the BmEO gene using RNA interference could not affect normal development of the female silkworm, but lower the 20E titer and hatching rate of its offspring. Rescue experiments by injecting the product (3DE) of BmE

SUBMITTER: Wang CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6158727 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature