Pébrine, or "pepper disease," is a disease of
silkworms, which is caused by protozoan
microsporidia
Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore.Franzen, C. (2005). How do Microsporidia inva ...
n parasites, mainly ''
Nosema bombycis
''Nosema bombycis'' is a species of Microsporidia of the genus ''Nosema (microsporidian), Nosema'' infecting Bombyx mori, silkworms, responsible for pébrine.
This species was the first microsporidium described, when pebrine decimated silkworms i ...
'' and, to a lesser extent, ''
Vairimorpha'', ''
Pleistophora'' and ''
Thelohania'' species. The parasites infect eggs and are therefore transmitted to the next generation.
The silkworm larvae infected by pébrine are usually covered in brown dots and are unable to spin silkworm thread.
Antoine Béchamp was the first one to recognize the cause of this disease when a
plague of the disease spread across
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
''
Nosema bombycis
''Nosema bombycis'' is a species of Microsporidia of the genus ''Nosema (microsporidian), Nosema'' infecting Bombyx mori, silkworms, responsible for pébrine.
This species was the first microsporidium described, when pebrine decimated silkworms i ...
'' is a microsporidium that kills all of the silkworms hatched from infected eggs and comes from the food that silkworms eat. If silkworms acquire this microsporidium in their larval stage, there are no visible signs; however, mother moths will pass the microsporidium onto the eggs, and all of the worms hatching from the infected eggs will die in their larval stage. Therefore, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs from infected moths by checking the moth's body fluid under a microscope.
See also
*
Flacherie
*
Muscardine
References
*
Pasteur Valléry-Radot (Hrsg.): ''Œuvres de Pasteur''. Band 4: ''Études sur la maladie des vers à soie''. Masson, Paris 1926, S. 54-186.* Chavannes: ''Ueber die Krankheit des Seidenspinners und die Erziehung einer gesunden Brut desselben''. In: Berliner entomologische Zeitschrift, Band 5, 1861, S. 175ff.
* Nicola Williams, Miles Roddis: ''Languedoc-Roussillon''. MairDumont, Ostfildern 2009, S. 106.
Diseases of Lepidopterans
Sericulture
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