Deciphering the molecular mechanism of flight loss in mulberry silkworm through the integration of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics [stRNA-seq]

Loss of flight is recurrently observed in flying species and markedly abates threats to human health and agricultural production posed by flying pests. However, our understanding of the flight organs involved remains limited. The silkworm Bombyx mori, a lepidopteran model insect, loses flight most recently, while the Bombyx mandarina capable of flight, therefore it is a good model for studying flight loss. Here, we represent the first description of the spatiotemporal architecture of Bombyx flight organs. We demonstrated that the weakened cellular function of NFDCs and FECs determining the flight energy and wing vein and flight muscle development largely result in flight loss in B. mori, and single-cell analyses of cotton bollworm flight organs and RNA interference (RNAi) of key genes validated these findings, and the cellular and molecular determinants of flight may be conserved across Lepidoptera. These findings will contribute to the understanding of flight loss encountered in flying species. Overall design: We used spatial transcriptome RNA sequencing (stRNA-seq) to gain a spatial transcriptome atlas of spatiotemporal architecture in wing discs of B. mori and B.mandarina Please note that "FWD" represents 'Fore wing discs' and "HWD" represents 'Hind wing discs', which will develop into the fore-wings of moth and hind-wings of moth, respectively.