Comparative analysis of digestive amylase activity in some tropical and temperate breeds of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori L.

摘要

In the current study amylase activity was carried out by analysis of digestive fluid in diapausing and nondiapausing strains of mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori L. Six different breeds, viz. Pure Mysore, Nistari, NB4D2, SH6, SKAUR(6) and SKUAST(28) were selected for the study. The average digestive amylase activity was found highest in Nistari during spring (664.82 mu g) and summer (993.97 mu g) seasons. However, among the bivoltine breeds SKUAST-28 with the average amylase activity during spring (148.47 mu g) and summer (144.04 mu g) seasons was found to be a superior breed with respect to this parameter. The amylase activity in tropical non-diapausing breeds is higher than that in the bivoltine breeds of silkworm which is responsible for their higher survival rate under unfavourable conditions.