Abstract: Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) play an important role in detoxification and can be induced. In order to study the relationship between the metabolism of the plant secondary metabolite rutin and the GSTs genes of Bombyx mori, we detected the transcription levels of Epsilon-class GSTs genes in different tissues of the 5th instar larvae and those treated with rutin (5×10^-1, 5×10^-2 and 5×10^-3 ng/μL) using dual-spike-in qPCR. The results showed that rutin (5×10^-2 ng/μL) can induce a significant change of the transcription levels of GSTs genes. In the midgut, BmGSTe1, BmGSTe2 and BmGSTe6 had higher transcription levels and reached the maximum at 24 h after induction; in fat body, however, BmGSTe1, BmGSTe6 and BmGSTe7 had higher transcription levels and reached the peak at 2 h, 2 h and 4 h after induction, respectively; and the transcription level of the GSTs genes did not change significantly or was undetectable in Malpighian tubules. Compared with the treatment with 5×10^-2 ng/μL rutin, 5×10^-1 ng/μL rutin could induce a little change of the transcription levels of GSTs genes and the time when the expression peak occurred was not the same. However, 5×10^-3 ng/μL rutin could not induce the change of the transcription level of the GSTs genes. The results suggest that the Epsilon-class GSTs genes play an important role in the metabolism of rutin.

Key words: Bombyx mori, GSTs genes, rutin, dual spike-in qPCR, induced expression