Post infectional physio-biochemical changes in food plants of silkworm and the effect of feeding diseased leaves on silkworm.

摘要

The importance of the quality of leaves in successful silkworm rearing needs no emphasis. Diseases of host plants reduce the nutritional quality of leaf and are considered to be one of the major limiting factors for their successful cultivation and silkworm rearing. Diseases interfere with the physiological and biochemical activities in the leaves resulting in yield and quality loss by altering protein, total sugar, reducing sugar, chlorophyll and mineral contents. Feeding silkworms with diseased leaves prolongs the larval duration and affects all the economic characters of cocoon. It also affects the silk quality. The works carried out so far on the aspect is reviewed.