SPIDER DRAGLINE SILK: CORRELATED AND MOSAIC EVOLUTION IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS

@inproceedings{Swanson2006SPIDERDS,
  title={SPIDER DRAGLINE SILK: CORRELATED AND MOSAIC EVOLUTION IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS},
  author={Brook O. Swanson and Todd A. Blackledge and Adam P. Summers and Cheryl Y. Hayashi},
  booktitle={Evolution; international journal of organic evolution},
  year={2006}
}
Abstract The evolution of biological materials is a critical, yet poorly understood, component in the generation of biodiversity. For example, the diversification of spiders is correlated with evolutionary changes in the way they use silk, and the material properties of these fibers, such as strength, toughness, extensibility, and stiffness, have profound effects on ecological function. Here, we examine the evolution of the material properties of dragline silk across a phylogenetically diverse… 
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77 Citations
Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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77 Citations

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

TLDR
A large comparative data set is presented that allows examination of capture silk properties across orb-weaving spider species, finding that material properties vary greatly across species and some material and mechanical properties are evolutionarily correlated.

High-performance spider webs: integrating biomechanics, ecology and behaviour

TLDR
An integrative, mechanistic approach to understanding silk and web function, as well as the selective pressures driving their evolution, will help uncover the potential impacts of environmental change and species invasions on spider success.

The evolution of complex biomaterial performance: The case of spider silk.

TLDR
New data on material properties of silk from nine species of spiders in the Mesothelae and Mygalomorphae, the two basal clades of spiders, support the hypothesis that the success and diversity seen in araneomorph spiders is associated with the evolution of this high-performance fiber.

Spider Silk: Molecular Structure and Function in Webs

All spiders produce silk, and most produce multiple types of silk fibers. How these silks function in prey capture webs provides a crucial link between the molecular biology of silk and spider…

Web building and silk properties functionally covary among species of wolf spider

TLDR
This study definitively showed an ecological influence over spider silk properties, and expects that the presence of the MaSp2‐like proteins and the subsequent nanostructures improves the mechanical performance of silks within the webs.

Evolution of supercontraction in spider silk: structure–function relationship from tarantulas to orb-weavers

SUMMARY Spider silk is a promising biomaterial with impressive performance. However, some spider silks also ‘supercontract’ when exposed to water, shrinking by up to ∼50% in length. Supercontraction…

Protein families, natural history and biotechnological aspects of spider silk.

TLDR
This review presents descriptions of members from each family of spidroin identified from five spider species of the Brazilian biodiversity, and an evolutionary study of them in correlation with the anatomical specialization of glands and spider's spinning behaviors.

Early Events in the Evolution of Spider Silk Genes

TLDR
A surprisingly rich silk gene diversity is uncovered from the silk glands of six mygalomorph species, a mesothele, and a non-orbicularian araneomorph, and in particular, ECP homologs are found in the mesothle, suggesting that ECPs were present in the common ancestor of extant spiders, and originally were not specialized to complex with tubuliform spidroins.

Sequential origin in the high performance properties of orb spider dragline silk

TLDR
Key changes in MA silk proteins correlate with the sequential evolution high performance orb spider silk and could aid design of biomimetic fibers.

Unravelling the secrets of silk: an in-depth biochemical analysis of spider and silkworm silk

TLDR
This thesis highlights the need for a biologically minded and holistic study of biomaterials such as silk, to understand all the factors that help organisms achieve such incredible and complex materials.
...

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