Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Insect Development Regulation and Application Research, Institute of Insect Science and Technology and School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2018 Aug;2(8):1268-1279. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0593-4. Epub 2018 Jul 2.
The Silk Road, which derives its name from the trade of silk produced by the domestic silkworm Bombyx mori, was an important episode in the development and interaction of human civilizations. However, the detailed history behind silkworm domestication remains ambiguous, and little is known about the underlying genetics with respect to important aspects of its domestication. Here, we reconstruct the domestication processes and identify selective sweeps by sequencing 137 representative silkworm strains. The results present an evolutionary scenario in which silkworms may have been initially domesticated in China as trimoulting lines, then subjected to independent spreads along the Silk Road that gave rise to the development of most local strains, and further improved for modern silk production in Japan and China, having descended from diverse ancestral sources. We find that genes with key roles in nitrogen and amino acid metabolism may have contributed to the promotion of silk production, and that circadian-related genes are generally selected for their adaptation. We additionally identify associations between several candidate genes and important breeding traits, thereby advancing the applicable value of our resources.
丝绸之路得名于由家蚕（Bombyx mori）生产的丝绸贸易，是人类文明发展和交流的重要篇章。然而，家蚕驯化背后的详细历史仍不清楚，其驯化的重要方面的遗传基础也知之甚少。在这里，我们通过对 137 个代表性蚕种进行测序，重建了驯化过程并鉴定了选择清除。研究结果提出了一个进化情景，即家蚕可能最初在中国作为三眠线被驯化，然后沿着丝绸之路独立传播，导致大多数当地品种的发展，并在日本和中国进一步改良，用于现代丝绸生产，它们来自不同的祖先来源。我们发现，在氮和氨基酸代谢中起关键作用的基因可能有助于促进丝绸生产，而与昼夜节律相关的基因通常因其适应而被选择。我们还发现了几个候选基因与重要的育种性状之间的关联，从而提高了我们资源的应用价值。
