Annual Report 2006

Fig. 3
Expression of GFP gene in the various organs of the transformed silkworm
rate compared to the previous methods, and
many different transgenic silkworms that
introduced many different foreign genes were
produced. Especially, the strains
using yeast to control the gene expression of
the introduced foreign gene was very effective
for the study of gene function and for the
production of useful materials. The efficient
production of recombinant proteins in the
transgenic silkworm has been shown to be
possible and to be useful as the new developed
system for it. In addition, jump starter strains
have been constructed for the enhancer trap in
the silkworm. The strains have been shown to
be used to transpose the mutator gene in the
silkworm and can be used for the production of
useful proteins. Furthermore, the method for
the analysis of brain and nervous system using
GAL4-RNAi has been confirmed and the
transgenic insects that introduced human FMR
1 gene was constructed.
Newly developed mulberry
cultivar Ayanobori with high
leaf quality and productivity
Recently, the sericulture is on the decline
in Japan. However, the improvement of the
productivity in mulberry field is still of
importance for the development of sericulture.
We have developed a new mulberry cultivar
Ayanobori (Fig. 4), which was selected out of
seedlings obtained by crossing the mother
Wasemidori and the father Hayatesakari
Tetraploid. Its resistance to dwarf disease has
Fig. 4
The shoot (left) and leaf (right) of a new mulberry
cultivar Ayanobori