Inheritance of gon, a Body Color Mutation of Newly Hatched Larvae in Bombyx mori

Abstract

A recessive mutation affecting the body color trait of newly hatched larvae has been found spontaneously in the experimental strain possessing a small egg mutant gene. The current mutation is characterized by a whitish color in newly hatched larvae, instead of the normal body color of black. Also this mutation was found to cause retarded larval growth, abnormal feature of pupal wings and undeveloped gonads. Linkage analysis showed that the mutant gene controlling these characters is linked to the melanism gene (mln), which belongs to the 18th linkage group. The novel mutant gene was named “Hakugi” in Japanese and “undeveloped gonads” in English with the gene symbol gon.