Production of the BmCecB1 antimicrobial peptide in transgenic silkworm

This peptide has antibacterial activity against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Bombyx mori cecropinB1(BmCecB1) is antimicrobial peptides from Bombyx mori and belongs to cecropin family. Antimicrobial peptides are important components of the innate immune systems in all living organism. To produce the BmCecB1 antimicrobial peptide, we constructed transgenic silkworm that expressed BmCecB1 gene under the control BmA3 promoter using piggyBac vector. The use of the 3xP3-driven EGFP cDNA as a marker allowed us to rapidly distinguish transgenic silkworm. Mixtures of the donor vector and helper vector were micro-injected into 600 eggs of bivoltin silkworms, Baegokjam. In total, 49 larvae (G0) were hatched and allowed to develop into moths. The resulting G1 generation consisted of 22 broods, and we selected 2 broods containing at least 1 EGFP-positive embryo. The rate of successful transgenesis for the G1 broods was 9%. We identified 9 EGFP-positive G1 moths and these were backcrossed with wild-type moths. With the aim of identifying a BmCecB1 as antimicrobial peptide, we investigated the Radical diffusion Assay (RDA) and then demonstrated that BmCecB1 possesses high antibacterial activities against Gram-negative bacteria.