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Q&A ViewAttendees 2

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad SysEB: Genetics and Molecular Biology

Use It or Lose It: Characterizing A. luna Silk Production Using Differential Gene Expression (DGE) and CT Scanning

Monday, November 1, 2021
9:00 AM – 9:12 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room 203
In-Person Student Competition
Silk is among the strongest and most versatile of biomaterials on Earth. It plays an important role economically, culturally, and medically in many communities both ancient and modern. With more than 160,000 described species, Lepidoptera is one of the most diverse and ubiquitous groups of insects with larvae that use silk for a wide range of purposes, including cocoon construction, prey capture, water repellence and as a protective adhesive. Some lepidopterans have even lost the ability to produce silk all together. Despite the diversity in silk producing Lepidoptera, and silk usage across this group, research on lepidopteran silk has been limited to a few model organisms, such as the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori). Until recently, silk research has focused primarily on cocoon fiber and structure, with else little known about variation in silk production between life stages and species. To characterize silk production in Actias luna, I use molecular tools such as differential gene expression (DGE) to better understand how silk gene regulation influences silk production throughout this insect's development.