Analysis of metabolite profiles of haemolymph in developmental stages of the silkmoth with high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance

Abstract

Metabolite profiles of the haemolymph of the silkmoth, Bombyx mori (L.) (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) provide crucial information on metabolic changes during larval to adult development. The metabolite profile of endogenous low molecular weight organic metabolites and amino acids in the haemolymph of the 4th instar on the first and fourth day, the 5th instar on the fourth and seventh day, the prepupa (spinning 5th instar), the pupa on the fourth day, the pupa on the eighth day and the adult moth (newly hatched) was studied. More than 20 metabolites could be assigned and quantified. It was found that concentrations of alanine, succinate, betaine and histidine were relatively high during the larval feeding period, but these concentrations decreased at the beginning of wandering. Concentration differences were also observed for trehalose, organic amines (putrescine), organic acids (quinate, lactate, acetate), intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (citrate, 2-ketoglutarate and succinate), betaine and metabolites of purine, choline and pyrimidines as the insect passed through different developmental stages. The metabolic profile of the silkmoth during the different stages would provide important information about the developmental biology of the insect. The study will illuminate the path of biochemical and metabolomic research in the silkmoth. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS).