家蚕模式化研究进展

建立具有中国特色的新型模式生物系统,是我国模式生物研究与发展的重要方向之一。家蚕(Bombyx mori)不仅具备模式生物的基本要素,而且还有其突出的特点和优势,2002年国际无脊椎动物协会正式将家蚕确定为鳞翅目模式昆虫。家蚕代表了生物界的一个大类群,易于在实验室内饲养和繁殖,世代短,子代群体大,遗传背景清楚,便于进行实验操作,并且遗传资源丰富,具有悠久的基础研究历史和现代科学研究基础,所以家蚕作为实验动物,在经典遗传学、动物遗传学、发育生物学、细胞生物学、昆虫免疫学、鳞翅目害虫防治、环境监测乃至医药学等研究领域受到广泛的关注。家蚕是少数完成基因组计划从框架图到精细图、重测序的代表物种,家蚕生物信息资源及分析平台以及功能基因鉴定和功能分析的平台日趋完善,使家蚕已经成为基因组学研究的典型范例之一。后基因组时代即使一个科学目标也有多种模式生物进行综合化分析,新的模式生物系统将逐渐形成。中国家蚕基因组计划推动了家蚕模式生物系统化的研究。建立具有中国特色的家蚕模式生物系统,并推进在鳞翅目害虫防治、人类疾病模型、医药筛选及环境检测等领域的实际应用,将有助于我国生命科学和生物产业相关领域形成优势竞争力。

Advances in Silkworm Modeling Research

Establishing a new model organismal system with Chinese characteristics is one of the most important fields in research and development of model organism in China.Silkworm (Bombyx mori) not only possesses basic essences of a model organism,but also has other favorable features and advantages,thus having been officially defined as the model insect of Lepidoptera by the International Association of Invertebrates in 2002.Silkworm is an ideal model organism.It can be raised and reproduced easily in laboratory.It has short generation time,big progeny size,clear genetic back-ground,and rich genetic resources.Laboratory studies with silkworm as experimental material can be easily manipulated.Studies on silkworm have a long history of basic researches and a solid basis of modern scientific researches.As an experimental animal,silkworm has been favored by researchers in the areas of classical genetics,animal genetics,developmental biology,cell biology,insect immunology,control of lepidopterous pests,environmental monitoring,and even medicinal studies etc.Until now,silkworm is one of the few representative species of which genome projects have been completed from draft map to fine map and to re-sequencing.With detailed bioinformatics resources and analysis platform and improved technological platforms for functional gene identification and functional analysis,silkworm has become a typical example for genomics studies.In the post-genomics era,even one single scientific objective has the needs of comprehensive analyses with multiple model organisms.Therefore,a new model organismal system will be formed gradually in the future.The silkworm genome project in China has promoted studies on silkworm model organismal system.The establishment of silkworm model organismal system with Chinese characteristics will facilitate studies on control of lepidopterous pests,establishment of human disease models,medicine screening and environmental monitoring etc,and improve the prominent competitiveness on life science researches and in related fields of bio-industry in China.