Skip to main content

Genome Editing of Silkworms

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Genome Editing in Animals

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1630))

Abstract

Silkworm is a lepidopteran insect that has been used as a model for a wide variety of biological studies. The microinjection technique is available and it is possible to cause transgenesis as well as target gene disruption via the genome editing technique. TALEN-mediated knock-out is especially effective in this species. We also succeeded in the precise and efficient integration of a donor vector using the Precise Integration into Target Chromosome (PITCh) method. Here, we describe protocols for ZFN, TALEN, and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing as well as the PITCh technique in the silkworm. We consider that all of these techniques can contribute to the further promotion of various biological studies in the silkworm and other insect species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Tamura T, Thibert C, Royer C, Kanda T, Abraham E, Kamba M, Kômoto N, Thomas JL, Mauchamp B, Chavancy G, Shirk P, Fraser M, Prudhomme JC, Couble P (2000) Germline transformation of the silkworm Bombyx mori L. using a piggyBac transposon-derived vector. Nat Biotechnol 18:81–84

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. The International Silkworm Genome Consortium (2008) The genome of a lepidopteran model insect, the silkworm Bombyx mori. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 38:1036–1045

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Takasu Y, Kobayashi I, Beumer K, Uchino K, Sezutsu H, Sajwan S, Carroll D, Tamura T, Zurovec M (2010) Targeted mutagenesis in the silkworm Bombyx mori using zinc finger nuclease mRNA injection. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 40:759–765

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fujii T, Abe H, Katsuma S, Mita K, Shimada T (2008) Mapping of sex-linked genes onto the genome sequence using various aberrations of the Z chromosome in Bombyx mori. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 38:1072–1079

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Sajwan S, Takasu Y, Tamura T, Uchino K, Sezutsu H, Zurovec M (2013) Efficient disruption of endogenous Bombyx gene by TAL effector nucleases. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 43:17–23

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Takasu Y, Sajwan S, Daimon T, Osanai-Futahashi M, Uchino K, Sezutsu H, Tamura T, Zurovec M (2013) Efficient TALEN construction for Bombyx mori gene targeting. PLoS One 9:e73458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yoda S, Yamaguchi J, Mita K, Yamamoto K, Banno Y, Ando T, Daimon T, Fujiwara H (2014) The transcription factor Apontic-like controls diverse colouration pattern in caterpillars. Nat Commun 5:4936

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Daimon T, Uchibori M, Nakao H, Sezutsu H, Shinoda T (2015) Knockout silkworms reveal a dispensable role for juvenile hormones in holometabolous life cycle. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:E4226–E4235

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Enya S, Daimon T, Igarashi F, Kataoka H, Uchibori M, Sezutsu H, Shinoda T, Niwa R (2015) The silkworm glutathione S-transferase gene noppera-bo is required for ecdysteroid biosynthesis and larval development. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 61:1–7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Osanai-Futahashi M, Tatematsu K, Futahashi R, Narukawa J, Takasu Y, Kayukawa T, Shinoda T, Ishige T, Yajima S, Tamura T, Yamamoto K, Sezutsu H (2015) Positional cloning of a Bombyx pink-eyed white egg locus reveals the major role of cardinal in ommochrome synthesis. Heredity 116:135–145

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Shiomi K, Takasu Y, Kunii M, Tsuchiya R, Mukaida M, Kobayashi M, Sezutsu H, Ichida Takahama M, Mizoguchi A (2015) Disruption of diapause induction by TALEN-based gene mutagenesis in relation to a unique neuropeptide signaling pathway in Bombyx. Sci Rep 5:15566

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Daimon T, Kiuchi T, Takasu Y (2014) Recent progress in genome engineering techniques in the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Develop Growth Differ 56:14–25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang Y, Tan A, Xu J, Li Z, Zeng B, Ling L, You L, Chen Y, James AA, Huang Y (2014) Site-specific, TALENs-mediated transformation of Bombyx mori. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 55:26–30

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Nakade S, Tsubota T, Sakane Y, Kume S, Sakamoto N, Obara M, Daimon T, Sezutsu H, Yamamoto T, Sakuma T, Suzuki KT (2014) Microhomology-mediated end-joining-dependent integration of donor DNA in cells and animals using TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9. Nat Commun 5:5560

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. McVey M, Lee SE (2008) MMEJ repair of double-strand breaks (director’s cut): deleted sequences and alternative endings. Trends Genet 24:529–538

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Sakuma T, Takenaga M, Kawabe Y, Nakamura T, Kamihira M, Yamamoto T (2015) Homologous recombination-independent large gene cassette knock-in in CHO cells using TALEN and MMEJ-directed donor plasmids. Int J Mol Sci 16:23849–23866

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Xia Q, Cheng D, Duan J, Wang G, Cheng T, Zha X, Liu C, Zhao P, Dai F, Zhang Z, He N, Zhang L, Xiang Z (2007) Microarray-based gene expression profiles in multiple tissues of the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori. Genome Biol 8:R162

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Tsubota T, Uchino K, Suzuki KT, Tanaka H, Kayukawa T, Shinoda T, Sezutsu H (2014) Identification of a novel strong and ubiquitous promoter/enhancer in the silkworm Bombyx mori. G3 (Bethesda) 4:1347–1357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Mandell JG, Barbas IIICF (2006) Zinc finger tools: custom DNA-binding domains for transcription factors and nucleases. Nucleic Acids Res 34:W516–W523

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Carroll D, Morton JJ, Beumer KJ, Segal DJ (2006) Design, construction and in vitro testing of zinc finger nucleases. Nat Protoc 1:1329–1341

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Takasu Y, Tamura T, Sajwan S, Kobayashi I, Zurovec M (2014) The use of TALENs for nonhomologous end joining mutagenesis in silkworm and fruitfly. Methods 69:46–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Takasu Y, Tamura T, Goldsmith M, Zurovec M (2016) Targeted mutagenesis in Bombyx mori using TALENs. Methods Mol Biol 1338:127–142

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Naito Y, Hino K, Bono H, Ui-Tei K (2015) CRISPRdirect: software for designing CRISPR/Cas guide RNA with reduced off-target sites. Bioinformatics 31:1120–1123

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Hwang WY, Fu Y, Reyon D, Maeder ML, Tsai SQ, Sander JD, Peterson RT, Yeh J-RJ, Joung JK (2013) Efficient genome editing in zabrafish using a CRISPR-Cas system. Nat Biotechnol 31:227–229

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Sakuma T, Nakade S, Sakane Y, Suzuki KT, Yamamoto T (2016) MMEJ-assisted gene knock-in using TALENs and CRISPR-Cas9 with the PITCh systems. Nat Protoc 11:118–133

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Thomas JL, Da Rocha M, Besse A, Mauchamp B, Chavancy G (2002) 3xP3-EGFP marker facilitates screening for transgenic silkworm Bombyx mori L. from the embryonic stage onwards. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 32:247–253

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Masumoto M, Ohde T, Shiomi K, Yaginuma T, Niimi T (2012) A baculovirus immediate-early gene, ie1, promoter drives efficient expression of a transgene in both Drosophila melanogaster and Bombyx mori. PLoS One 7:e49323

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Imamura M, Nakai J, Inoue S, Quan GX, Kanda T, Tamura T (2003) Targeted gene expresion using the GAL4/UAS system in the silkworm Bombyx mori. Genetics 165:1329–1340

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Kobayashi I, Uchino K, Sezutsu H, Iizuka T, Tamura T (2007) Development of a new piggyBac vector for generating transgenic silkworms using the kynurenine 3-mono oxygenase gene. J Insect Biotechnol Sericol 76:145–148

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Osanai-Futahashi M, Ohde T, Hirata J, Uchino K, Futahashi R, Tamura T, Niimi T, Sezutsu H (2012) A visible dominant marker for insect transgenesis. Nat Commun 3:1295

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideki Sezutsu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Tsubota, T., Sezutsu, H. (2017). Genome Editing of Silkworms. In: Hatada, I. (eds) Genome Editing in Animals. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1630. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7128-2_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7128-2_17

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7127-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7128-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics