Cell Reports (Jul 2024)
The architecture of silk-secreting organs during the final larval stage of silkworms revealed by single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics
- Yan Ma,
- Qingjun Li,
- Yiyun Tang,
- Zhiyong Zhang,
- Rongpeng Liu,
- Qin Luo,
- Yuting Wang,
- Jie Hu,
- Yuqin Chen,
- Zhiwei Li,
- Chen Zhao,
- Yiting Ran,
- Yuanyuan Mu,
- Yinghao Li,
- Xiaoqing Xu,
- Yuyan Gong,
- Zihan He,
- Yongbing Ba,
- Kaiqi Guo,
- Keshu Dong,
- Xiao Li,
- Wei Tan,
- Yumeng Zhu,
- Zhonghuai Xiang,
- Hanfu Xu
Affiliations
- Yan Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Qingjun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yiyun Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Zhiyong Zhang
- Beijing SeekGene BioSciences Co., Ltd., Beijing 102206, China
- Rongpeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Qin Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yuting Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Jie Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yuqin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Zhiwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Chen Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yiting Ran
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yuanyuan Mu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yinghao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Xiaoqing Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yuyan Gong
- Beijing SeekGene BioSciences Co., Ltd., Beijing 102206, China
- Zihan He
- Beijing SeekGene BioSciences Co., Ltd., Beijing 102206, China
- Yongbing Ba
- Shanghai OE Biotech. Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201212, China
- Kaiqi Guo
- Shanghai OE Biotech. Co., Ltd., Shanghai 201212, China
- Keshu Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Xiao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Wei Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Yumeng Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Zhonghuai Xiang
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Hanfu Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, College of Sericulture, Textile and Biomass Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 43,
no. 7
p. 114460
Abstract
Summary: Natural silks are renewable proteins with impressive mechanical properties and biocompatibility that are useful in various fields. However, the cellular and spatial organization of silk-secreting organs remains unclear. Here, we combined single-nucleus and spatially resolved transcriptomics to systematically map the cellular and spatial composition of the silk glands (SGs) of mulberry silkworms late in larval development. This approach allowed us to profile SG cell types and cell state dynamics and identify regulatory networks and cell-cell communication related to efficient silk protein synthesis; key markers were validated via transgenic approaches. Notably, we demonstrated the indispensable role of the ecdysone receptor (ultraspiracle) in regulating endoreplication in SG cells. Our atlas presents the results of spatiotemporal analysis of silk-secreting organ architecture late in larval development; this atlas provides a valuable reference for elucidating the mechanism of efficient silk protein synthesis and developing sustainable products made from natural silk.
