Changes of yolk and haemolymph proteins during ovarian development in the miniature egg mutant, emi, of Bombyx mori

The changes in the amount of yolk and haemolymph proteins were investigated during ovarian development in a mutant which produces small sized eggs and was named the miniature egg (emi). The ovary of this mutant possessed not only vitellin (H and L) and the 30 kDa proteins synthesized in extra-ovarian tissues but also the egg specific protein (ESP) synthesized in the follicular epithelial cells of the ovary. However, the contents of these proteins in the mutant ovary were considerably lower than in the normal ovary. On the other hand, large amounts of vitellogenin and the 30 kDa proteins were found to remain in the haemolymph of emi females at the late pupal and the adult stages. The emi gene is likely to affect neither incorporation of vitellogenin and the 30 kDa proteins into the ovary nor synthesis of ESP in the ovary. There is the possibility that the gene is expressed in the process of determination of egg size.