Allelic Variability in the Intronic Region of the Fibroin Heavy-Chain Gene in Silkworm Bombyx mori L. Strains of Brazilian Germplasm Bank.

The domesticated silkworm Bombyx mori L. is currently found only in germplasm banks. Therefore, characterization and conservation of this genetic resource is crucial.

Biological and molecular characterization of silkworm strains from the Brazilian germplasm bank of Bombyx mori.

Brazil has only one public genetic pool of Bombyx mori strains, which was established in 2005 at Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Paraná State. This genetic bank has been maintained, and the strains have been characterized using genetic and morphological tools. The quantitative and qualitative traits, directly or indirectly related to productivity, were evaluated in 14 silkworm strains.