Selection of a phenotypic and functional core set for South Korean silkworm genetic resources, Bombyx mori...

Genetic resources are a vital asset of humanity that must be managed with consideration for both present utilization and future conservation. Globally, core collections have been actively developed in major crops and livestock to maximize genetic diversity while minimizing redundancy. Although the Republic of Korea maintains one of the world's largest national silkworm (Bombyx mori L. [Lepidoptera: Bombycidae]) genetic resource collections, systematic efforts to establish a core collection supporting efficient conservation, breeding, and industrial utilization have remained limited. As a foundational step toward constructing a comprehensive core collection from approximately 340 national silkworm accessions, this study evaluated an initial working set of 50 genetic resources reared under standardized conditions. Morphological, rearing, cocoon, reproductive, and functional traits, including antioxidant activity, were comprehensively assessed. Based on the resulting multi-trait dataset, the widely adopted core selection tools PowerCore, MSTRAT, and Core Hunter were applied to establish a multi-objective optimization framework that balances representativeness and diversity. As a result, candidate core sets comprising 20 to 22 accessions were identified, broadly representing the full trait spectrum while minimizing redundancy. The selected core preserved phenotypic extremes across key traits, including developmental timing, larval growth, cocoon productivity, reproductive performance, pigment-based cocoon color, and antioxidant activity, thereby maintaining both phenotypic and functional diversity rather than converging toward average trait values. This study represents the first application in the Republic of Korea to explicitly integrate functional traits into silkworm core-collection selection criteria, providing a provisional working panel for further validation, breeding, industrial material development, and standardized downstream screening.