title: Metabolomics Analysis of the Larval Head of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori.
abstract: The head, which performs many biological functions, is the most complicated structure of an insect. Development, locomotor behavior, food intake, environmental sensing, and signal transduction are all controlled by the insect's head. As a well-studied insect in Lepidoptera, the silkworm head has an additional function of spinning silk fibers. To understand which molecules are involved in these physiological activities, we performed a metabolomics analysis of silkworm heads. By integrating GC-MS and LC-MS/MS, 90 metabolites were identified in the larval heads of silkworms. These were classified into 13 categories, including amino acids, sugars, organic acids, nucleotides, alcohols, and fatty acids. Informatics analysis revealed that these metabolites are involved in cellular processes, environmental information processing, genetic information processing, human diseases, metabolism, organismal systems, and other pathways. The identified metabolites and pathways are involved in biological processes such as signal transduction, carbohydrate metabolism, endocrine activities, and sensory activities; reflecting the functions of various organs in silkworm heads. Thus, our findings provide references which elucidate the potential functions of the silkworm head and will be of great value for the metabolomics research of silkworms and other insects.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. yili89716@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. wangxin1-4@163.com.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China. eidoloncqm@126.com.
authors.forename: Quanmei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. yhou@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. xiaqy@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China. zhaop@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
keywords: GC-MS; LC-MS/MS; head; metabolites; pathway analysis; silkworm