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Silkworm is one of the economically beneficial insects and a potent in vivo animal model to test the toxicity of nanoparticles. Intensive efforts are being made to manifest the silk fibroin properties using nanoparticles for biomedical applications, which is also an emerging area of commercial importance in agri/seri-biotechnology. Graphene, for its superior mechanical properties, is widely applied as reinforcement in preparing high-performance materials. It has shown massive potential in energy, electronics, medicine and more. The reduced graphene oxide is a derivative of Graphene Oxide (GO), devoid of attached functionality with more potent electrical conductivity, biocompatibility, bioactivity and found applications in developing antibacterial surfaces and drug delivery. These two materials affect the biological and commercial traits of the silkworm, B. mori (PM × CSR2), in the oral route of administration, along with the mulberry leaf, which has a dose-dependent effect. In both nanoparticle-treated batches of the two different concentrations (0.1% & 0.5%), 0.1% showed as an optimum concentration that has potential for enhancing the cocoon and silk filament properties significantly compared with 0.5%. An increase in the total protein content of haemolymph tissue may also increase the total silk protein synthesis due to 0.1% graphene. Moreover, no significant change was noticed in the total protein content and profile of the haemolymph tissue in Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) treated silkworm batches. Overall observation showed no traceable toxic effect in the silkworm, B. mori, to rGO-based mulberry leaf diet, which clearly indicates the beneficial effect of rGO that can be exploited for the improvement of silk traits.

Keywords: Bombyxmori, Graphene, Graphene oxide, Invertebrate model system.