The role of the splicing variant of NOS during the early embryonic development of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

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A splicing variant of nitric oxide synthase(NOS) was found in HCl-treated diapause eggs of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The splicing variant(NovNOS-V) lacked one exon of NOS gene that was encoded 35 amino acid residue, and NovNOS-V mRNA was expressed just after HCl-treatment. NOS gene expression and NOS activity were also examined with non-diapause, diapause and HCl-treated diapause eggs, respectively. These gene expressions were not parallel with the changes in NOS activity. These results suggest that the changes in NOS activity are regulated mainly at the level of post-transcription during embryonic development in B. mori. Furthermore, the distribution and localization of NOS were investigated by an immunohistochemical technique using antibodies against the universal NOS, and the localization of NOS was observed mainly in yolk cells in HCl-treated diapause eggs.