Investigation of the protein profile of silkworm ( Bombyx mori ) pupae reared on a well-calibrated artificial diet compared to mulberry leaf diet

PeerJ

article

Cristina Lamberti¹  Francesco Gai¹  Simona Cirrincione¹  Marzia Giribaldi²  Micol Purrotti¹  Marcello Manfredi³  Emilio Marengo³  Benedetto Sicuro⁴  Alessio Saviane⁵  Silvia Cappellozza⁵  Maria Gabriella Giuffrida¹  Laura Cavallarin¹ 

[1] Institute of Science of Food Production, National Research Council;Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing, Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Economics;Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases;Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin;Centre of Research for Agriculture and Environment, Sericulture Laboratory, Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Economics

关键词: Insect;    Farming;    Artificial diet;    Mass spectrometry;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6723

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Silkworm pupae is the main by-product of the sericulture industry with an interesting nutritional profile, especially in terms of proteins. In consideration of its possible use as a food or food ingredient in Western countries, a comparative proteomic experiment has been performed to investigate the differences of the protein profile of male and female silkworm pupae reared on mulberry leaves or on an artificial diet. Methods The nutritional profile of lyophilized silkworm pupae in terms of dry matter and ash was evaluated according to the AOAC procedures, the total nitrogen content was determined by a nitrogen analyzer and the silkworm pupae gross energy value was measured using an adiabatic calorimetric bomb. The comparative proteomic analysis was performed on male and female silkworm pupae reared on mulberry leaves or on the artificial diet. Proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and, after a multivariate statistical analysis, the differentially expressed proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS. Results The comparative proteomic approach highlighted 47 silkworm pupae proteins differentially expressed comparing diet and gender. PCA analysis showed that seven proteins were more effective in discriminating the sex and five were more effective in discriminating the diet type. In spite of the above-mentioned differences in the silkworm pupae protein profile, no strong alteration of the pupa physiological traits have been demonstrated, suggesting a general silkworm pupae flexibility to adapt to a well-balanced artificial diet. Differences in lipid transport and metabolism were found among the experimental groups, that might have a relevant effect on the timing and on hormone secretion. This aspect may also affect silk production, as univoltine strains are the most productive. The proteomic data provided in this work, may offer a contribution in understanding also the influence of gender and farming strategy on the allergen profile of Bombyx mori, when used as food or as a food ingredient. Female silkworm pupae reared on mulberry leaves seemed to contain lower levels of known allergens than those reared in the other experimental conditions; these findings will have to be taken into account when farming B. mori for food production purposes. However, our results need to be supported by further characterization of the allergenic potential of B. mori.

【 授权许可】

CC BY