Structure and expression of gene coding for a pupal cuticle protein of Bombyx mori

Abstract

A specific protein termed as PCP accumulates in the newly synthesized pupal cuticle of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We have cloned the genomic sequence encoding PCP and analyzed its structure. The PCP gene comprises two exons interspersed by a single intron approx. 5.8 kb in length. Transcription initiation sites of the PCP gene were located at nucleotide level. The 5' flanking region of the gene contains a sequence homologous to the Pit-1 DNA recognition element of the rat prolactin and growth hormone genes. The developmental profile of the PCP precursor RNA in epidermal cells showed that the biosynthesis of PCP is regulated at the transcriptional level in a stage- and tissue-specific fashion during post-embryonic development. Administration of 20-hydroxyecdysone to the isolated abdomens prepared from the early fifth instar larvae provoked the accumulation of PCP mRNA in epidermis, suggesting that the molting hormone triggers the expression of PCP gene.