Expression Studies of BmNPV Antiviral Proteins Serine Protease and Lipase in Mulberry Plant

Abstract

Sericulture is a significant agricultural cottage enterprise. The silkworm Bombyx mori L. is used in the commercial manufacture of silk. Silkworms are prone to fungal, bacterial, viral, and protozoan infections. Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) causes grasserie, a viral illness in silkworm that is a severe economic loss to the sericulture business. The current study focuses on the transformation of antiviral genes, serine protease, and lipase into mulberry leaves by agro infiltration. Antiviral proteins from BmNPV were cloned into the plant expression vector pBI121. The plant expression vector pBI121 was effectively transferred into Agro-bacterium cells for mulberry agroinfiltration investigations. PCR amplification and SDS-PAGE analysis validated the gene integration and production of antiviral proteins, which were discovered to be 885 bp of lipase gene with protein size of 29 Kda and 855 bp of serine protease gene with protein size of 24 Kda. Lipase and serine protease antiviral protein genes were cloned into the bacterial expression vector pET32a for bioassay experiments.