Spider capture silk: performance implications of variation in an exceptional biomaterial

Swanson, Brook O.; Blackledge, Todd A.; Hayashi, Cheryl Y.

doi:10.1002/jez.420

Cited by 64 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…35 In situ experiments conducted on garden webs showing a very similar result. 35 Geometry in model obtained from natural orb-web 35,36 findings and mimicking the natural silk spinning process that involves elongational flow and alignment of protein chains due to mechanical force (Fig. 1b).…”

Section: Molecular Structure and Mechanics Of Silkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs

Tarakanova

Buehler

2012

JOM

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The exceptional mechanical properties of hierarchical self-assembling silk biopolymers have been extensively studied experimentally and in computational investigations. A series of recent studies has been conducted to examine structure-function relationships across different length scales in silk, ranging from atomistic models of protein constituents to the spider web architecture. Silk is an exemplary natural material because its superior properties stem intrinsically from the synergistic cooperativity of hierarchically organized components, rather than from the superior properties of the building blocks themselves. It is composed of beta-sheet nanocrystals interspersed within less orderly amorphous domains, where the underlying molecular structure is dominated by weak hydrogen bonding. Protein chains are organized into fibrils, which pack together to form threads of a spider web. In this article we survey multiscale studies spanning length scales from angstroms to centimeters, from the amino acid sequence defining silk components to an atomistically derived spider web model, with the aim to bridge varying levels of hierarchy to elucidate the mechanisms by which structure at each composite level contributes to organization and material phenomena at subsequent levels. The work demonstrates that the web is a highly adapted system where both material and hierarchical structure across all length scales is critical for its functional properties.

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Section: Molecular Structure and Mechanics Of Silkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 The web is modeled by an arithmetic spiral, 35 with radial threads extending from the center for support. The architecture and geometry are borrowed from the natural orb-web design, 36 as illustrated in Fig. 6a.…”

Section: Spider Web Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs

Tarakanova

Buehler

2012

JOM

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“…First, it could be based on the different properties of the silks. Ecribellate silk, while often thicker and more extensible than cribellate silk, is also generally lower in strength (Hansell 1993;Blackledge and Hayashi 2006;Vollrath 2006;Swanson et al 2007), which combined with its viscosity could not only make it more difficult for birds to manipulate but also render it less effective long term if the sticky droplets of water-based glycoprotein glue dry out and lose their adhesiveness with age (Hansell 1993;Vollrath 2006). Cribellate silk, on the other hand, which consists of dry capture threads composed of a hackled band of tiny coiled threads (Vollrath 2006), may be more persistently adhesive (Hansell 2000) and can be repeatedly separated and refastened, a technique that has been termed the 'Velcro' mechanism (Hansell 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecribellate spiders, on the other hand, lack a cribellum and instead produce wet capture threads which capture insects via viscid, sticky droplets of water-based glycoprotein glue (Hansell 1993;Vollrath 2006). In addition to their different capture principle, ecribellate silks are generally thicker, more extensible and lower in strength than cribellate silk (Hansell 1993;Blackledge and Hayashi 2006;Swanson et al 2007). These fundamental differences between the properties of cribellate and ecribellate silk could influence their suitability for use by birds in nest building.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of spider silk for nest building by the Regent HoneyeaterAnthochaera phrygiaand the Helmeted HoneyeaterLichenostomus melanops cassidix

Low

Angus

Wagner

et al. 2013

Australian Zoologist

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The Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia and Helmeted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops cassidix have both suffered a dramatic decline in number and reduction in range as a result of extensive habitat clearance. As part of recovery plans aimed toward reintroduction to the wild, both species are part of an intensive captive breeding program being conducted at a number of institutions, including Taronga Zoo, Sydney. These honeyeaters incorporate arthropod silk into their nests, as has been reported for other small passerines. However, little is known about how birds choose and use the silk that they collect during nest building. We presented breeding pairs with cribellate silk from the Black House Spider Badumna sp. and ecribellate silk from the Golden Orb-weaver Nephila plumipes or 'clean/fresh' and 'dirty/old' Badumna sp. silk and observed which were taken by the birds. Lichenostomus melanops cassidix showed a preference for the cribellate silk of Badumna sp., always selecting this silk type first. Nevertheless, the ecribellate silk of N. plumipes was also taken occasionally. Anthochaera phrygia, on the other hand, showed no clear preference for the silk of either Badumna sp. or N. plumipes, though they did display a preference for clean/fresh Badumna sp. silk, which was selected more often than dirty/old Badumna sp. silk. Dissection of an A. phrygia nest indicated that silk is used within the nest to help bind the other nest materials. These observations suggest that passerines may select silk non-randomly for use within their nests, possibly preferring clean/fresh cribellate silk.

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“…), most silks (e.g. dragline or capture silks) can be approximately characterized by hyperelastic stiffening [5,6,17,32,56]. As such, a simple potential is desired that can capture such behaviour with a minimum number of parameters.…”

Section: Fibril Constitutive Law and Interfibril Interaction(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing silk fibre strength through heterogeneity of bundled fibrils

Cranford

2013

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Can naturally arising disorder in biological materials be beneficial? Materials scientists are continuously attempting to replicate the exemplary performance of materials such as spider silk, with detailed techniques and assembly procedures. At the same time, a spider does not precisely machine silk-imaging indicates that its fibrils are heterogeneous and irregular in cross section. While past investigations either focused on the building material (e.g. the molecular scale protein sequence and behaviour) or on the ultimate structural component (e.g. silk threads and spider webs), the bundled structure of fibrils that compose spider threads has been frequently overlooked. Herein, I exploit a molecular dynamics-based coarse-grain model to construct a fully three-dimensional fibril bundle, with a length on the order of micrometres. I probe the mechanical behaviour of bundled silk fibrils with variable density of heterogenic protrusions or globules, ranging from ideally homogeneous to a saturated distribution. Subject to stretching, the model indicates that cooperativity is enhanced by contact through low-force deformation and shear 'locking' between globules, increasing shear stress transfer by up to 200 per cent. In effect, introduction of a random and disordered structure can serve to improve mechanical performance. Moreover, addition of globules allows a tuning of free volume, and thus the wettability of silk (with implications for supercontraction). These findings support the ability of silk to maintain near-molecular-level strength at the scale of silk threads, and the mechanism could be easily adopted as a strategy for synthetic fibres.

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Spider capture silk: performance implications of variation in an exceptional biomaterial

Cited by 64 publications

References 57 publications

A Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs

A Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs

Use of spider silk for nest building by the Regent HoneyeaterAnthochaera phrygiaand the Helmeted HoneyeaterLichenostomus melanops cassidix

Increasing silk fibre strength through heterogeneity of bundled fibrils

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