Molecular Characterization of Two Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases: p38 MAP Kinase and Ribosomal S6 Kinase From Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), and Insight Into Their Roles in Response to BmNPV Infection

Muhammad, Azharuddin; Toufeeq, Shahzad; Yu, Hai-Zhong; Wang, Jie; Zhang, Shang-Zhi; Li, Bing; Li, Zhen; Yang, Li-Ang; Hu, Pei; Ma, Yan; Xu, Jia-Ping

Ribosomal S6 kinase is a central component in the TOR pathway to regulate cell growth and energy metabolism in animals (Fenton and Gout 2011) . The study on S6K in Drosophila suggests that disruption of S6K cause the death of flies at the larvae and pupa stage (Montagne et al. 1999) . To date, there are no reports on S6K functions against pathogens. We observed the transcription and translation level of B. mori S6K. Our results showed that BmS6K expression was higher in the hemolymph and midgut after BmNPV infection. The translation results showed that BmS6K expression was higher in the head, followed by the fat body. The transcription results of BmS6K in the midgut after BmNPV infection revealed that BmS6K expression was at peak at 12 h postinfection, then its expression decreased slightly at 24, 48, and 72 h, but it was still significantly upregulated. The translation data also correlate with the transcription data. Moreover, we found that BmS6K translation data are somewhat consistent with the iTRAQ and need further attention.