Analysis of silk gland transcriptome and silk mechanical properties of the Australian golden orb weavers

Genevieve Kerr; Alessandra Whaite; Helen F Nahrung; Tianfang Wang; Min Zhao; Aaron Wiegand; Peter Killen; Joanna Kristoffersen; C Brown; Joanne Macdonald

Conference poster

Analysis of silk gland transcriptome and silk mechanical properties of the Australian golden orb weavers

Genevieve Kerr, Alessandra Whaite, Helen F Nahrung, Tianfang Wang, Min Zhao, Aaron Wiegand, Peter Killen, Joanna Kristoffersen, C Brown and Joanne Macdonald

ComBio Conference, 2016 (Brisbane, Australia, 03-Oct-2016–07-Oct-2016)

ComBio

2016

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http://combio2016.asbmb.org.au/abstractview.php?id=876View

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Abstract

Microbiology

Spider silk is the world's toughest biological material yet very few spider species silks have been characterised. We analysed both the silk gland transcriptome and the silk mechanical properties of the exceptionally large Australian rainforest golden orb weaver Nephila pilipes in comparison to the related garden variety spider Nephila plumipes. Illumina next-generation sequencing of the major ampullate gland coupled with LC-MS/MS of the solid silk fibre identified highly expressed genes within the gland that may be involved in the formation of the silk fibres from the soluble to solid state, as well as proteins that may contribute to stabilization of the fibre. Biomechanical analysis of the two silk threads indicated Nephila pilipes had significantly tougher silk with higher strain capacity than its smaller congener, producing threads with toughness up to 305 MJ/m3. Within N. pilipes, smaller silk fibrils were produced by larger spiders, yielding tougher threads whose fibril diameter was negatively correlated with silk toughness. In contrast, while spider size was correlated with thread diameter in N. plumipes, there were no clear patterns relating to silk toughness, which suggests that the differences in properties between the silk of the two species arise through differing molecular structure.

Details

Title: Analysis of silk gland transcriptome and silk mechanical properties of the Australian golden orb weavers
Authors: Genevieve Kerr (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Alessandra Whaite (Author)
Helen F Nahrung (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Tianfang Wang (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Min Zhao (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Aaron Wiegand (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Peter Killen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Joanna Kristoffersen (Author) - University of Oxford, United Kingdom
C Brown (Author) - University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Joanne Macdonald (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Conference details: ComBio Conference, 2016 (Brisbane, Australia, 03-Oct-2016–07-Oct-2016)
Publisher: ComBio
Date published: 2016
Organisation Unit: Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering; School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; Forest Industries Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute; Centre for Bioinnovation; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451093302621
Output Type: Conference poster

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