''Antheraea pernyi'', the Chinese

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

tussar moth, Chinese tasar moth, or temperate tussar moth, is a large

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Saturniidae Saturniidae, members of which are commonly named the saturniids, is a family of Lepidoptera with an estimated 2,300 described species. The family contains some of the largest species of moths in the world. Notable members include the emperor m ...

. The

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

was first described by

Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville, also known as F. E. Guerin, (12 October 1799, in Toulon – 26 January 1874, in Paris) was a French entomologist. Life and work Guérin-Méneville changed his surname from Guérin in 1836. He was the author o ...

in 1855. '' Antheraea roylei'' is an extremely close relative, and the present species might actually have evolved from ancestral ''A. roylei'' by

chromosome rearrangement In genetics, a chromosomal rearrangement is a mutation that is a type of chromosome abnormality involving a change in the structure of the native chromosome. Such changes may involve several different classes of events, like Deletion (genetics), d ...

. They are originally from southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Used for

tussar silk Tussar silk (alternatively spelled as tussah, tushar, tassar, tussore, tasar, tussur, or tusser, and also known as (Sanskrit) ''kosa'' silk) is produced from larvae of several species of silkworms belonging to the moth genus '' Antheraea'', incl ...

production, they have been distributed more widely across subtropical and tropical Asia. Unlike the domestic silk moth which is entirely dependent on human care, tussah silk moths can survive in the wild if they escape from captivity; small local populations of such feral stock may thus occasionally occur. The colour and quality of the silk depends on the climate and soil. This is one of the major producers of tussar silk. It was of commercial importance during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

and early

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

era, about 200 BC to 250 AD. More recently, the hybridogenic species '' Antheraea × proylei'' is being bred for tussah silk production. It originated from a natural hybrid between male ''A. pernyi'' and ''A. roylei'' females, F1 females of which were backcrossed to ''A. pernyi'' males. For reasons unknown, it is a case of

paternal mtDNA transmission In genetics, paternal mtDNA transmission and paternal mtDNA inheritance refer to the incidence of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) being passed from a father to his offspring. Paternal mtDNA inheritance is observed in a small proportion of species; in gen ...

: the

mitochondrial genome Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...

, normally inherited from the mother only in

sexually reproducing Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete (haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote that d ...

organisms, is almost identical to that of the present species. This silkworm is raised in China for its silk. It is referred to as tussah, Chinese tussah, oak tussah, or temperate tussah. It is the source of tussah spinning fiber that is used in the West. It is a relative of the tropical tussah silk moth, ''

Antheraea paphia ''Antheraea paphia'', known as the South India small tussore, the tasar silkworm and vanya silkwormKavane, R. P. (2014)''Syzygium cumini'' L. – A potential new host of tropical tasar silkworm, ''Antheraea mylitta'' Drury (Lepidoptera: Satur ...

'' of India, and also related to '' Antheraea polyphemus'', the American polyphemus silk moth. In China, they are fed on plantations of specially trimmed oak trees on the hillsides.

Immune system

The immune responses of ''A. pernyi'' to bacterial infection have been analysed based on injection by ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Escherichia'' that is commonly fo ...

'' D31.

Cecropin Cecropins are antimicrobial peptides. They were first isolated from the hemolymph of '' Hyalophora cecropia'', whence the term cecropin was derived. Cecropins lyse bacterial cell membranes; they also inhibit proline uptake and cause leaky membr ...

B and D, hemolin,

attacin Attacin is a glycine-rich protein of about 20 kDa belonging to the group of antimicrobial peptides (AMP). It is active against Gram-negative bacteria. Attacin was first discovered in ''Hyalophora cecropia ''Hyalophora cecropia'', the cecropia m ...

and

lysozyme Lysozyme (, muramidase, ''N''-acetylmuramide glycanhydrolase; systematic name peptidoglycan ''N''-acetylmuramoylhydrolase) is an antimicrobial enzyme produced by animals that forms part of the innate immune system. It is a glycoside hydrolase ...

were detected in the

hemolymph Hemolymph, or haemolymph, is a fluid, similar to the blood in invertebrates, that circulates in the inside of the arthropod's body, remaining in direct contact with the animal's tissues. It is composed of a fluid plasma in which hemolymph c ...

. Also, injection of ''

E. coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escherichia'' that is commonly foun ...

'' led to the discovery of a 380-kDa

lectin Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar Moiety (chemistry), groups that are part of other molecules, so cause agglutination (biology), agglutination of particular cells or precipitation of glycoconjugates an ...

with affinity to

galactose Galactose (, ''wikt:galacto-, galacto-'' + ''wikt:-ose#Suffix 2, -ose'', ), sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a monosaccharide sugar that is about as sweetness, sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. It is an aldohexose and a C-4 epime ...

and resulted in an increase of hemagglutinating activity. ''A. pernyi'' has been used in research on virus defence in insects. It was discovered that hemolin was induced after injection of

baculovirus ''Baculoviridae'' is a family of viruses. Arthropods, among the most studied being Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera, serve as natural hosts. Currently, 85 species are placed in this family, assigned to four genera. Baculoviruses are known ...

, but also by

double-stranded RNA Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is RNA with two complementary strands found in cells. It is similar to DNA but with the replacement of thymine by uracil and the adding of one oxygen atom. Despite the structural similarities, much less is known about ...

Aging

Changes occurring with

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

at the

dendrite A dendrite (from Ancient Greek language, Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree") or dendron is a branched cytoplasmic process that extends from a nerve cell that propagates the neurotransmission, electrochemical stimulation received from oth ...

level of

olfactory receptor neuron An olfactory receptor neuron (ORN), also called an olfactory sensory neuron (OSN), is a sensory neuron within the olfactory system. Structure Humans have between 10 and 20 million olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). In vertebrates, ORNs are Bi ...

s were studied in male ''A peryni''.Kumar GL, Pophof B, Kumar S, Keil TA. Age-related changes in the dendrites of olfactory receptor neurons in the male silkmoth Antheraea peryni (Insecta, Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Cell Biol Int. 1998;22(6):445-55. doi: 10.1006/cbir.1998.0278. PMID 10328853 These aging related changes included

DNA fragmentation DNA fragmentation is the separation or breaking of DNA strands into pieces. It can be done intentionally by laboratory personnel or by cells, or can occur spontaneously. Spontaneous or accidental DNA fragmentation is fragmentation that gradually a ...

Gallery

Image:Antheraea pernyi ova sjh.jpg, Eggs one day before hatching Image:Antheraea pernyi 1st instar 1 sjh.jpg, First-

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s Image:Antheraea pernyi 2nd instar 10 sjh.jpg, Second-instar caterpillar Image:Antheraea pernyi 3rd instar 3 sjh.jpg, Third-instar caterpillar Image:Antheraea pernyi 4th instar 2 sjh.jpg, Fourth-instar caterpillar Image:Antheraea pernyi 5th instar 1 sjh.jpg, Fifth-instar caterpillars Image:Antheraea pernyi 6th instar 6 sjh.JPG, Sixth-instar caterpillar Image:Antheraea pernyi 6th instar 5 sjh.JPG, Sixth-instar caterpillar

References

* North-Szigetváry, L. (1894): "The Japanese and Chinese Oak-Silk Spinner: Their Life and Cultivation (''Attacus Jama-mâi'' and ''Bombyx Pernyi'')." L. North-Szigetváry, of Newchwang. ''The Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society''. 1894. Vol. 10. Nos. 4–6 April to June, pp. 183–193.
Supplementary figure 1 (JPG)

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Supplementary figure 3 (JPG)

External links

Warning: Many images, may require a lot of bandwidth * http://www.cdfd.org.in/wildsilkbase/info_moths.php {{Taxonbar , from=Q1074174 p Moths of Asia Sericulture South China Insects of Southeast Asia Moths of Japan Moths of New Zealand Moths described in 1855 Domesticated animals