Abstract
Marker-assisted selection in breeding silkworm strains with high silk production and resistance to the densonucleosis virus
Author(s): C.X. Hou1, P.J. Sun1, X.J. Guo1,2, Y.P. Huang3 and M.W. Li1,2In the silkworm (Bombyx mori), resistance to the Zhenjiang (China) strain of the densonucleosis virus (DNV-Z) is controlled by the recessive gene nsd-Z (non-susceptible to DNV-Z), which is linked to 7 simple-sequence repeat markers. Marker-assisted evaluation and selection of DNV-Z-resistant silkworms were used for predicting DNV-resistance in backcrossed animals. A silkworm race was bred using this method, and its economic characteristics were found to be similar to those of commercial silkworm races.
