Conformation and orientation of proteins in various types of silk fibers produced by Nephila clavipes spiders. 2009

Marie-Eve Rousseau, and Thierry Lefèvre, and Michel Pézolet
Centre de recherche sur les matériaux avancés, Département de chimie, Université Laval, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Québec, Canada.

Silk fibers harvested from the web, cocoon, and prey wrapping of the spider Nephila clavipes have been studied by polarized Raman spectromicroscopy. The technique is efficient to differentiate the various types of silk by probing monofilaments produced by the major ampullate (MA), minor ampullate (MI), cylindriform, flagelliform, and aciniform glands. The spectra show that the MA, MI, and cylindriform silks belong to the same structural class and are composed of highly oriented beta-sheets (35-37%) with other slightly oriented secondary structures. Spectral markers of particular motifs involved in the beta-sheets have been identified. The flagelliform silk represents a second, very peculiar structural class. It displays a heterogeneous disordered conformation without any preferential orientation. Such characteristics certainly play a role in the large extensibility of this silk. The aciniform silk represents a third class of silk dominated by moderately oriented beta-sheets (approximately 30%) and alpha-helices (approximately 24%). Such a structure seems important in explaining the high toughness of this silk.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013059 Spectrum Analysis, Raman Analysis of the intensity of Raman scattering of monochromatic light as a function of frequency of the scattered light. Raman Spectroscopy,Analysis, Raman Spectrum,Raman Optical Activity Spectroscopy,Raman Scattering,Raman Spectrum Analysis,Scattering, Raman,Spectroscopy, Raman
D013112 Spiders Arthropods of the class ARACHNIDA, order Araneae. Except for mites and ticks, spiders constitute the largest order of arachnids, with approximately 37,000 species having been described. The majority of spiders are harmless, although some species can be regarded as moderately harmful since their bites can lead to quite severe local symptoms. (From Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 5th ed, p508; Smith, Insects and Other Arthropods of Medical Importance, 1973, pp424-430) Spider
D047011 Silk A continuous protein fiber consisting primarily of FIBROINS. It is synthesized by a variety of INSECTS and ARACHNIDS.
D019476 Insect Proteins Proteins found in any species of insect. Insect Protein,Protein, Insect,Proteins, Insect

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