Department of Sericulture University of Mysore, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
J Insect Sci. 2010;10:204. doi: 10.1673/031.010.20401.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are known to play ecological and evolutionary roles in this postgenomic era. Recent research suggests that HSPs are implicated in cardiovascular biology and disease development, proliferation and regulation of cancer cells, cell death via apoptosis, and several other key cellular functions. These activities have generated great interest amongst cell and molecular biologists, and these biologists are keen to unravel other hitherto unknown potential functions of this group of proteins. Consequently, the biological significance of HSPs has led to cloning and characterization of genes encoding HSPs in many organisms including the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). However, most of the past investigations in B. mori were confined to expression of HSPs in tissues and cell lines, whereas information on their specific functional roles in biological, physiological, and molecular processes is scarce. Naturally occurring or domesticated polyvoltines (known to be the tropical race) are more resistant to high temperatures and diseases than bi- or univoltines (temperate races). The mechanism of ecological or evolutionary modification of HSPs during the course of domestication of B. mori - particularly in relation to thermotolerance in geographically distinct races/strains - is still unclear. In addition, the heat shock response, thermal acclimation, and hardening have not been studied extensively in B. mori compared to other organisms. Towards this, recent investigations on differential expression of HSPs at various stages of development, considering the concept of the whole organism, open ample scope to evaluate their biological and commercial importance in B. mori which has not been addressed in any of the representative organisms studied so far. Comparatively, heat shock response among different silkworm races/strains of poly-, bi-, and univoltines varies significantly and thermotolerance increases as the larval development proceeds. Hence, this being the first review in this area, an attempt has been made to collate all available information on the heat shock response, HSPs expression, associated genes, amino acid sequences, and acquired/unacquired thermotolerance. The aim is to present this as a valuable resource for addressing the gap in knowledge and understanding evolutionary significance of HSPs between domesticated (B. mori) and non-domesticated insects. It is believed that the information presented here will also help researchers/breeders to design appropriate strategies for developing novel strains for the tropics.
热休克蛋白（HSPs）在这个后基因组时代被认为在生态和进化中发挥作用。最近的研究表明，HSPs 与心血管生物学和疾病发展、癌细胞的增殖和调节、细胞凋亡以及其他几个关键细胞功能有关。这些活动引起了细胞和分子生物学家的极大兴趣，这些生物学家热衷于揭示这组蛋白质迄今未知的其他潜在功能。因此，HSPs 的生物学意义导致了包括家蚕（鳞翅目：蚕科）在内的许多生物体中 HSPs 基因的克隆和特征描述。然而，过去在 B. mori 中的大多数研究都局限于 HSPs 在组织和细胞系中的表达，而关于它们在生物学、生理学和分子过程中的特定功能作用的信息却很少。与二或单化性品种（被认为是温带品种）相比，自然发生或驯化的多化性品种（已知是热带品种）对高温和疾病更具抗性。在 B. mori 驯化过程中 HSPs 的生态或进化修饰的机制——特别是在地理上不同的品种/品系的耐热性方面——仍然不清楚。此外，与其他生物体相比，B. mori 中的热休克反应、热驯化和硬化尚未得到广泛研究。有鉴于此，最近在不同发育阶段对 HSPs 的差异表达进行了研究，从整个生物体的角度考虑，为评估它们在 B. mori 中的生物学和商业重要性提供了广阔的空间，这在迄今为止研究的任何代表性生物体中都没有得到解决。相比之下，不同多化性、二化性和单化性家蚕品种/品系之间的热休克反应差异显著，随着幼虫发育的进行，耐热性增加。因此，这是该领域的第一篇综述，本文试图收集关于热休克反应、HSPs 表达、相关基因、氨基酸序列和获得/未获得耐热性的所有可用信息。目的是提供一个有价值的资源，以填补驯化（B. mori）和非驯化昆虫之间 HSPs 的知识和进化意义的空白。相信这里提供的信息也将有助于研究人员/饲养者为热带地区设计开发新型品种的策略。
