Shandong Guangtong Silkworm Seed Group Signs a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the National Key Laboratory for Efficient Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects at Southwest University

On September 17, the signing ceremony for the strategic cooperation agreement between Shandong Guangtong Silkworm Seed Group and the National Key Laboratory for Efficient Breeding and Utilization of Resource Insects at Southwest University was held in the conference room of Guangtong Group.

             First,   Fang Dewen of the Group Company briefed Professor Zhou Zeyang’s team on Guangtong Group’s development journey and its current production and operational status. Since its establishment, Guangtong Group has consistently prioritized scientific and technological research and development, taking a leading position nationwide in areas such as silkworm breed selection and introduction, the development of mechanized equipment like sex-determination machines, and research on artificial-feed sericulture projects. At present, the company annually produces first-generation hybrid mulberry silkworm seeds. With a production scale of over 1.8 million silkworm eggs and 100,000 original-breeding eggs, the silkworm egg industry has maintained steady growth. Each year, more than 300,000 samples of microsporidian-infected mother moths are subjected to microscopic examination; however, the sector faces significant challenges, including heavy inspection workloads, a shortage of qualified microscopists, and tight inspection timelines. There is an urgent need for new, advanced diagnostic technologies to replace traditional methods for detecting microsporidiosis. The recent visit by the research team from the National Key Laboratory for Efficient Cultivation and Utilization of Resource Insects at Southwest University has provided our company with a viable solution to this longstanding and critical challenge in microsporidiosis testing.

Subsequently, Professor Zhou Zeyang expressed his appreciation for the years of development of Guangtong Group. As the world’s largest producer of silkworm eggs and a technology-driven enterprise in this field, Guangtong Group’s needs precisely define the direction of our research, while our scientific achievements urgently require the support of enterprises to be put into practical application. Professor Zhou then went on to introduce the current work being conducted on microspores. Research achievements have been made in areas such as PCR-based molecular detection and rapid lateral-flow immunoassays. At present, molecular diagnostic methods for microsporidia are highly mature, and their costs have been reduced to reasonable levels. The pressing challenge now is to achieve standardization of these diagnostic procedures, which requires close collaboration between research institutions and manufacturing enterprises. This collaboration should integrate traditional microscopic examination of female moths with big-data comparison and multi-level validation. To this end, the National Key Laboratory for Efficient Cultivation and Utilization of Resource Insects at Southwest University has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Guangtong Silkworm Seed Group, with the goal of “healthy silkworm cultivation.” Through this partnership, a mechanism for collaborative research成果转化 has been established, an integrated platform for industry–academia–research cooperation has been built, and the pace of translating research findings into productive applications has been accelerated.

Finally, Professor Pan Guoqing and Manager Chang Wenyong signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on behalf of both parties. The signing of this agreement marks the official commencement of multi-sectoral and deeper collaboration between Southwest University and Guangtong Group.