Flight Muscle and Wing Mechanical Properties are Involved in Flightlessness of the Domestic Silkmoth, <i>Bombyx mori</i>
Kunpeng Lu,
Shubo Liang,
Minjin Han,
Chunman Wu,
Jiangbo Song,
Chunlin Li,
Songyuan Wu,
Songzhen He,
Jianyu Ren,
Hai Hu,
Jianghong Shen,
Xiaoling Tong,
Fangyin Dai
Affiliations
Kunpeng Lu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Shubo Liang
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Minjin Han
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Chunman Wu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Jiangbo Song
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Chunlin Li
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Songyuan Wu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Songzhen He
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Jianyu Ren
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Hai Hu
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Jianghong Shen
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Xiaoling Tong
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Fangyin Dai
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology; Key Laboratory of Sericultural Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; College of Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Flight loss has occurred in many winged insect taxa. The flightless silkmoth Bombyx mori, is domesticated from the wild silkmoth, Bombyx mandarina, which can fly. In this paper, we studied morphological characteristics attributed to flightlessness in silkmoths. Three domestic flightless B. mori strains and one B. mandarina population were used to compare morphological components of the flight apparatus, including wing characteristics (shape, forewing area, loading, and stiffness), flight muscle (weight, ratio, and microscopic detail) and body mass. Compared with B. mandarina, B. mori strains have a larger body, greater wing loading, more flexible wings and a lower flight muscle ratio. The arrangement in microscopy of dorsal longitudinal flight muscles (DLFMs) of B. mori was irregular. Comparative analysis of the sexes suggests that degeneration of flight muscles and reduction of wing mechanical properties (stiffness) are associated with silkmoth flightlessness. The findings provide important clues for further research of the molecular mechanisms of B. mori flight loss.