Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T11:39:05.627Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Sequences, Structures, and Properties of Spider Silks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2009

Peter R. Shewry
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Arthur S. Tatham
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Allen J. Bailey
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Spiders are unique in the animal world due to the use of silk throughout their life span and a nearly total dependence on silk for their evolutionary success (Lucas, 1964; Vollrath, 1992). There were periods of fairly intense study of spider silk prior to World War II and in the late 1950s. However, progress was relatively meager, especially when compared with research on silkworm silk. Beginning in the 1970s, studies carried out in the laboratories of Work, Gosline, and Tillinghast reinvigorated interest in spider silk, with several papers describing their physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. These papers set the stage for the current advances in our understanding of these fibers.

BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SPIDER SILK PRODUCTION

Typical spider webs are constructed from several different silks, each of which is produced in a separate gland. Non-orb web-weaving spiders produce fewer silks and use them differently in many cases. The non-orb weavers constitute the majority of spiders and include those species that do not make the usual orb-shaped web. The various silks produced by the orb web-weaving spiders, the glands that produce them, and the uses of the spiders for each silk are listed in Table 7.1.

Although each of the silk glands has its own distinctive shape and size, they are all functionally organized in a similar pattern. The majority of the gland serves as a reservoir of soluble silk protein that is synthesized in specialized cells at the distal end of the gland.

Type
Chapter
Information
Elastomeric Proteins
Structures, Biomechanical Properties, and Biological Roles
, pp. 136 - 151
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×