Bombyx mandarina (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), the presumed ancestor of the domesticated silkworm B. mori, has long been a subject of study to illustrate the geographic relationships in connection with origin of B. mori. We sequenced 100 mitochondrial genomes of B. mandarina collected from South Korea and Japan and these were combined with public data. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses showed that all individuals collected in South Korea, except one individual from Inje, formed a strong group together with northern China and some individuals of southern China. This group was placed as the sister group to B. mori strains, suggesting that this group could have been served as an immediate progenitor for B. mori. For further robust inference more analysis is underway.

• Jee-Young Pyo(Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonnam National University)
• Jeong Sun Park(Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonnam National University)
• Min Jee Kim(Honnam Regional Office, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency)
• Heon Cheon Jeong(Korea Native Animal Resources Utilization Convergence Research Institute, Soonchunhyang University)
• Sung-Soo Kim(Research Institute for East Asian Environment and Biology)
• Yutaka Banno(Silkworm Resources Division, Institute of Genetic Resources, Kyushu University, Japan)
• Iksoo Kim(Department of Applied Biology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chonnam National University) Corresponding author