A novel immune-related gene HDD1 of silkworm Bombyx mori is involved in bacterial response

Insects have evolved an effective immune system to respond to various challenges. In this study, a novel immune-related gene, called BmHDDI, was first charactered in silkworm, Bombyx mori. BmHDD1 contained an ORF of 837 bp and encoding a deduced protein of 278 amino acids. BmHDD1 was specifically expressed in hemocytes, and highly expressed at the molting and metamorphosis stages under normal physiological conditions. Our results suggested that BmHDD1 was mainly generated by hemocytes and secreted into hemolymph. Our results also showed that the expression level of BmHDDI was significantly increased after 20E injection, which indicated that BmHDD1 might be regulated by ecdysone. More importantly, BmHDD1 was dramatically induced after injected with different types of PAMPs or bacteria, either in hemocytes or fat body. Those results suggested that BmHDD1 plays a role in developing and immunity system in silkworm, Bombyx mori.