• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.147-151
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• 2005

Serious attempt for the improvement of quality parameters in silkworm hybrids came rather very late in India. Realising the need for productive breeds to the field and reorientation in breeding methodology, the silkworm breeders of CSRTI, Mysore were able to develop silkworm breeds with fine denier namely, JPN7, CSR48, B63 and B65 of specific industrial requirement through directional selection. As the success of silkworm breeds mainly depends on their combining ability, the developed breeds were subjected for hybrid evaluation. Out of 42 bivoltine hybrids studied, one hybrid, $CSR48{\times}CSR5$ was identified for its superiority over the existing bivoltine hybrids namely $CSR2{\times}CSR4,\;CSR2{\times}CSR5\;and\;CSR18{\times}CSR19$ for majority of qualitative traits. Post cocoon testing of large quantity of cocoons of $CSR48{\times}CSR5$ resulted in the production of high quality '3A'grade silk. It is for the first time in the Indian Sericulture industry that high quality silk with longer filament length of 1474 m, denier of 2.47, standard size deviation of 0.983 d, maximum size deviation of 1.322, neatness of 96 p, reelability of $85\%$, tenacity of 3.87 g/d, elongation of $22.32\%$ and cohesion of 110 strokes was produced. The superiority of fine denier silkworm breeds and their hybrids are discussed.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.221-229
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• 2003

Ten multivoltine female parental lines were crossed with popular bivoltine male silkworm breed NB$_4$D$_2$. Three types of heterosis parameters viz., heterosis over mid-parental value (hybrid vigour), heterobeltiosis (useful heterosis) and standard heterosis (standard check) were estimated for 15 economically important quantitative traits. The interaction among the hybrids and parents indicated significant effect for maximum characters. The heterotic effect of new hybrid combination was compared with popular hybrids viz., Pure Mysore${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ and Nistari${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$. Varied heterotic effect was observed for different traits for different hybrid combination. The results inferred that the crosses viz., BL$_{23}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ ranked top for 14 traits followed by Hosa Mysore${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 11 traits; PA$_{12}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 9 traits; BL$_{24}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 8 traits; Kolar Gold${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 7 traits; WAI$_1$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 6 traits and MU$_{11}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ for 5 traits. Among these, the best hybrids Kolar Gold${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ and MU$_{11}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ were identified for longer filament length and fine denier. Similarly for higher cocoon yield and silk productivity BL$_{223}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ and BL$_{24}$${\times}$NB$_4$D$_2$ were found to be superior. These hybrid combinations are suitable for commercial exploitation at large scale.e.e.e.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.31-40
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the change of the physical properties, bending and luster properties, which are related to the touch and appearance of silk fabrics modified by the degumming process. The silk has long been known as one of the most elegant and soft textile materials. The raw silk yarn, or cocoon bave, spun from the spinneret, is rather stiff due to the sericin covering the two fibroins together. The sericin can be removed during a degumming process. The removal of the sericin would result in remarkable change in the physical properties of the raw silk fabrics, including luster of the fabrics, which process parameters could possibly be utilized to adequately control the silk fabric properties. The KES(Kawabata Evaluation System) is a testing methodology that has been used with considerable success for predicting the hand and tailorability of apparel fabrics. This study uses one of the KES, bending tester, to measure the bending properties of the silk fabrics degummed for specified period to change the physical/mechanical properties of the fabric. The KES bending measurement revealed that the bending rigidity decreased for both the warp and weft direction of the silk fabrics with the increase of the degumming period. It has been shown in this study that the some of the hand-related physical properties, including the bending rigidity, drapability, and luster, could be modified with the change in the degumming period.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2011

To evaluate the growth rate of larval and pupal parameters of silkworm Bombyx mori fed with Silver Nanoparticles (AgNps) treated $MR_2$ mulberry leaves, the following works have been considered. The AgNp was synthesized by chemical reduction method, it was diluted by different concentrations such as 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% (without dilution). Fresh mulberry leaves (Morus alba L.) were sprayed by each concentration and were fed to silkworms, from $3^{rd}$, $4^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ instar, five feedings/day. Group $T_1$ larvae received $MR_2$ mulberry leaves sprayed with distilled water and served as control, group $T_2$, $T_3$, $T_4$ and $T_5$ larvae received 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% AgNps sprayed mulberry leaves, respectively. Silkworm larvae fed on M. alba ($MR_2$) leaves sprayed with 25% concentration of AgNps (group $T_2$) was significantly increased the larvae and cocoon length, width and weight as compared to those fed on control (group $T_1$) $MR_2$ mulberry leaves and other groups ($T_3$, $T_4$ and $T_5$). Hence, 25% AgNps dose was fixed as an effective dose. It has been observed from the present study that 25% AgNps treated (group $T_2$) leaves fed by silkworms have enhanced the larval and pupal growth and quantity of silk production than control.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.56-69
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• 2022

Silk is a unique natural biopolymer with outstanding biocompatibility, high mechanical strength, and superior optical transparency. Due to its excellent properties, silk has been widely reported as an ideal biomaterial for several biomedical applications. Recently, fluorescent silk protein, a variant of native silk, has been reported as a biophotonic material with the potential for bioimaging and biosensing. Despite the realization of fluorescent silk, the traditional degumming process of fluorescence silk is crude and often results in fluorescence loss. The loss of fluorescent properties is attributed to the sensitivity of silk fibroin to temperature and solvent concentration during degumming. However, there is no comprehensive information on the influence of these processing parameters on fluorescence evolution and decay during fluorescent silk processing. Therefore, we conducted a spectroscopic study on fluorescence decay as a function of temperature, concentration, and duration for fluorescent silk cocoon degumming. Sodium carbonate solution was tested for degumming the fluorescent silk cocoons with different concentrations and temperatures; also, sodium carbonate solution is combined with Alcalase enzyme and triton x-100 to find optimal degumming conditions. Additionally, we conducted a molecular dynamics study to investigate the fundamental effect of temperature on the stability of the fluorescent protein. We observed degumming temperature as the prime source of fluorescent intensity reduction. From the MD study, fluorescence degradation originated from the thermal agitation of fluorescent protein Cα atoms and fluctuations of amino acid residues located in the chromophore region. Overall, degumming fluorescent silk with sodium carbonate and Alcalase enzyme solution at 25 ℃ preserved fluorescence.