Artificial diets for silkworms have many potential applications and they are important in sericulture. However, the challenges of weak larvae and low silk protein synthesis efficiency in silkworms reared on artificial diets have not been resolved. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to analyse the differences between the gut microbiota of 5th-instar larvae reared on mulberry leaves and larvae reared on an artificial diet. The results showed that at the phylum level, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria are the dominant bacteria in the intestines of silkworm larvae of all the strains. But the abundance of dominant bacteria in the gut microbiota differed between the silkworm strains that were reared on mulberry leaves, as well as between the silkworm strains that were reared on the artificial diet, while the gut microbiota diversity was lower in the silkworm strains that were reared on the artificial diet. Prediction of the functions of the gut microbiota in the hosts indicated that there was no significant difference between the silkworm strains that were reared on mulberry leaves, while there were significant differences between silkworm strains reared on the artificial diet. When the silkworm diet changed from mulberry leaves to the artificial diet, changes in gut microbiota in the silkworms affected host nutrient metabolism and immune resistance. These changes may be related to the adaptation of silkworms to their long evolutionary history of eating mulberry leaves.

中文翻译：

---

以新鲜桑叶 (Morus alba var. multicaulis) 叶子或人工饲料饲养的蚕 (Bombyx mori) 的肠道微生物群差异†

蚕的人工饲料有许多潜在的应用，它们在养蚕中很重要。然而，人工饲料饲养的蚕幼虫弱、丝蛋白合成效率低的挑战尚未得到解决。在这里，我们使用高通量测序分析了以桑叶饲养的 5 龄幼虫和以人工饲料饲养的幼虫的肠道微生物群之间的差异。结果表明，在门水平上，蓝藻门、厚壁菌门、变形菌门、拟杆菌门和放线菌是所有菌株家蚕幼虫肠道中的优势菌。但是，在桑叶上饲养的蚕品系和人工饲料饲养的蚕品系之间，肠道微生物群中优势细菌的丰度存在差异，而人工饲料饲养的蚕品系的肠道微生物群多样性较低。对宿主肠道菌群功能的预测表明，桑叶饲养的家蚕品系之间没有显着差异，而人工饲料饲养的家蚕品系之间存在显着差异。当蚕食从桑叶改为人工饲料时，蚕肠道菌群的变化会影响宿主的营养代谢和免疫抵抗力。这些变化可能与蚕对吃桑叶的漫长进化史的适应有关。对宿主肠道菌群功能的预测表明，桑叶饲养的家蚕品系之间没有显着差异，而人工饲料饲养的家蚕品系之间存在显着差异。当蚕食从桑叶改为人工饲料时，蚕肠道菌群的变化会影响宿主的营养代谢和免疫抵抗力。这些变化可能与蚕对吃桑叶的漫长进化史的适应有关。对宿主肠道菌群功能的预测表明，桑叶饲养的家蚕品系之间没有显着差异，而人工饲料饲养的家蚕品系之间存在显着差异。当蚕食从桑叶改为人工饲料时，蚕肠道菌群的变化会影响宿主的营养代谢和免疫抵抗力。这些变化可能与蚕对吃桑叶的漫长进化史的适应有关。家蚕肠道菌群的变化影响宿主的营养代谢和免疫抵抗。这些变化可能与蚕对吃桑叶的漫长进化史的适应有关。家蚕肠道菌群的变化影响宿主的营养代谢和免疫抵抗。这些变化可能与蚕对吃桑叶的漫长进化史的适应有关。