New protein found in the most resistant spider web material

Home >> News Center >> New protein found in the most resistant spider web material

New protein found in the most resistant spider web material

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the United States and Slovenia found an unknown protein in the strongest known spider web. In their article published in Communications Biology, the group describes their study of Darwin's bark spider silk and the glands that produce it.

Humans have been impressed by silk made from spiders for thousands of years, so much so that much effort has gone into harvesting it from spiders for clothing, and reproducing it in a laboratory to create new solid materials. In this new effort, researchers focused their efforts on Darwin bark spiders, their silk-producing glands and the silk that is produced.

Darwin's bark spiders are a type of orb spider, which means they make their spider webs in the shape of a spoke wheel. They form the largest known orb web of all spiders, which they rotate over the surface of rivers. Previous research has shown that the spider actually makes seven different kinds of silk for use in different parts of its web. One of these types of silk, called dragline, is used to build the spokes that give the wheel its strength. Previous research has shown that it is the most resistant spider silk available. In this new effort, researchers have taken a closer look at dragline silk and the gland that produces it.

The researchers discovered two well-known types of spindroins - repetitive protein types - called MaSp1 and MaSp2, which are found in many spider silks. But in the wire of Darwin's bark spiders, they found another spindroin, which they named MaSp4a. The study of this protein revealed that it contained high amounts of an amino acid called proline, which, according to previous research, is generally associated with elasticity. The protein also contained less of some of the other components present in MaSp1 and MaSp2, making it quite unique.

The researchers also found that the gland that produces silk - the ampoule - is longer than in other spiders, which may give another indication of the strength of the silk that is produced.