In vivo-like Culture of Monophagous Animal Organ using Dietary Components

Animals depend on other species to live, with monophagy being an extreme mode. Monophagous animals depend on their diet not only for nutritients but also for developmental and reproductive controls. Thus, dietary components may be useful in culturing tissues from monophagous animals. We hypothesized that a dedifferentiated tissue from the monophagous silkworm, Bombyx mori, would re-differentiate when cultured in a medium containing an extract of mulberry (Morus alba) leaves, the only food of B. mori. Over 40 fat-body transcriptomes were sequenced, and we concluded that it is possible to establish in vivo-like silkworm tissue cultures using their diet.