Research
During the last one decade, research in the silkworm, Bombyx mori has
witnessed explosive developments which include unveiling of complete
genome sequence, availability of more than 200,000 ESTs, high density
linkage and physical maps, well-established piggyBac mediated
transgenics, and identification of critical genes for proliferation of
baculovirus. The concomitant advancements in other insects such as
Drosophila, Honeybee, Mosquito, and Tribolium, particularly in
understanding sex-determination mechanisms, microRNA functions,
molecular mechanisms of immune response pathways and RNAi-based
analysis of gene functions, provide impetus to build silkworm as a
basic lepidopteran model system on one hand and improve economic
returns of the sericulture industry on the other. Significantly, the
genetic and genomic research repertoire of the silkworm, Bombyx mori
provides the required resources to address various biological
questions in economically important native Indian wild silkmoths that
have remained largely unexplored. In addition, developing a lepidopteran model
system can spin off genetic information as well as molecular
biological tools to be applied in the management of lepidopteran pests
of Indian agriculture. The Centre of Excellence for Genetics and
Genomics of Silkmoths, supported by Department of Biotechnology,
Government of India focuses on the following research projects: