MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF 4 GENES EXPRESSED IN THE SILKMOTH WING EPIDERMIS DURING ADULT DEVELOPMENT

Four different clones have been isolated from a genomic library of the silk moth Antheraea polyphemus by employing a probe putatively specific to the adult stage. Each clone contains a distinct piece of genomic DNA and codes for a single mRNA expressed in the adult wing epidermis. The mRNAs corresponding to the genes begin accumulating at approximately the same time of pharate adult development, but follow different kinetics of accumulation. This differential accumulation appears to be a consequence of transcriptional capacity. These genes are expressed in a tissue- and time-specific manner in the wing epidermis during pharate adult development. The absence of mRNAs corresponding to these genes in the epidermis of the larva and pupa indicates that their expression is specific to the adult stage. Hybrid selection, translation and immunoprecipitation confirm that these genes code for one cuticular protein each. Pharate adults of other silkmoth species also express in their wing tissues mRNAs of similar size corresponding to these four clones.