Cytokine receptor DOME controls wing disc development in Bombyx mori

In multicellular organisms, the JAK/STAT signaling pathway is involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and immune regulation. Through activation of the Stat92E transcription factor, JAK/STAT signaling induced proper wing development in Drosophila. Domeless (DOME) was the first identified invertebrate JAK/STAT receptor. However, the function of DOME in Bombyx mori development remains unclear, especially in wing morphogenesis. In this study, we isolated the cytokine receptor DOME gene in B. mori and evaluated its function in DOME-knockout models. We found that overexpression of DOME at the cellular level upregulated the expression of JAK/STAT pathway-related genes, promoted proliferation, and inhibited apoptosis. The results of the interference with DOME had the opposite effects with those of overexpression at the cellular level. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we constructed a DOME-knockout transgenic silkworm strain (KO-DOME) and found that the wings of the pupa and moth stages were vesicle-shaped and smaller than those of the wild-type silkworm. Some KO-DOME silkworms were unable to extend their wings from the pupal case after eclosion. We detected the expression of cyclin and apoptosis-related genes in the wing disc of the moth stage and found that some cyclin genes, such as CyclinA, CyclinB, and CyclinD, were downregulated, whereas apoptotic genes, such as Caspase1, Caspase3, and Caspase8, were upregulated. We propose that DOME regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis by affecting the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, ultimately influencing the development of wing discs. Our study provides empirical evidence for the biological function of the silkworm DOME gene, which is essential for the normal development of wings.