Bacterial Survey in the Guts of Domestic Silkworms, Bombyx Mori L.

The domestic silkworm is central to the silk industry. Current sericulture efforts have also shifted toward the improvement of silkworm strains in terms of silk yield, silk quality and disease resistance to support the growing demand for silk worldwide. This study offers a potential starting point for Philippine silkworm strain improvement through the use of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to study the gut microbiome of Philippine silkworm strains that were selected based on developmental and economically important traits they exhibit. The findings give insight into the bacterial genera abundant in the gut of Philippine silkworms and lay the foundation necessary for the characterization and eventual improvement of Philippine silkworm strains, as well as other related studies in the future.