Perspectives in silkworm (Bombyx mori) transgenesis

The development and improvement of the current protocol of silkworm transgenesis open new areas of applications both for fundamental research and for applied fields. In particular we plan to make use of transformed silkworms for the study of the contribution of chromatin structure in the regulation of silk encoding genes. Transformed silkworms could also be used to study the secretion of foreign fibrous proteins as for example the spider silk with the aim of developing new textile fibres. We can also transform silkworms in order to improve sericultural strains. More particularly, it would be very beneficial to produce strains resistant to baculovirus infections. This has been initiated by fighting against viral functions through RNA interference and by attempting to increase host tolerance functions against the virus.