Spiders` silk is a natural material with great mechanical properties. Therefore, scientists are trying to find its secrets. Latest discovery has shown that spiders` silk is a protein, and its good mechanical properties lay in its tertiary structure: beta-sheet nanocrystals. The bonds in the structure are hydrogen, which are among the weakest bonds, however here in crystals hydrogen bonds brakes...

Silk protein-based materials are promising materials for the delivery of drugs and other active ingredients, due to their processability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. The preparation of films composed of an engineered spider silk protein (eADF4(C16)) in combination with either a polyester (polycaprolactone) or a polyurethane (pellethane), and their physical properties are described. ...

A novel protein, Smsp-72k, was found to be selectively expressed in the silk gland of aquatic larvae of the Stenopsychid caddisfly (Stenopsyche marmorata). The protein was characterized by an abundance of cysteine (13.97%) and charged residues (47.21%). Amino acids with hydroxyl side-chains accounted for an additional 10% of the Smsp-72k protein, with serine at 4.4% and threonine at 5.6%. A cys...

Silks are renowned for being lightweight materials with impressive mechanical properties. Though moth and spider silks have received the most study, silk production has evolved in many other arthropods. One insect group that has been little investigated is Embioptera (webspinners). Embiopterans produce silk from unique tarsal spinning structures during all life stages. We characterize the molec...

Pseudoscorpion species were collected from Western Ghat’s forest habitat. They were identified as Chelifer sp. of order cheliferoidea to the class Arachnida (Mahnert, 1991). The silk gland of chelicerae was dissected out. The samples of the fibroin protein secreted from the silk gland were subjected for physical, chemical and biological analysis. It was found that false scorpion fiber could be ...

The effect of ascorbic acid and lemon juice on the silkworm, Bombyx mori has been studied with reference to larval growth, protein synthesis and silk production. Both these exogenous factors, when supplemented with mulberry diet, showed positive impact on larval growth during the fourth and fifth instar developmental stages. The analysis of growth trends in terms of compound periodical growth r...

Spider dragline silk is a self-assembling tunable protein composite fiber that rivals many engineering fibers in tensile strength, extensibility, and toughness, making it one of the most versatile biocompatible materials and most inviting for synthetic mimicry. While experimental studies have shown that the peptide sequence and molecular structure of silk have a direct influence on the stiffnes...

Embiopterans produce silken galleries and sheets using exceptionally fine silk fibers in which they live and breed. In this study, we use electron microscopy (EM), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) techniques to elucidate the molecular level protein structure of webspinner (embiid) silks. Silks...

This paper reports the structure and properties of silk fibers produced by Actias lunas in comparison to Bombyx mori and the common wild silks. Considerable efforts are being made to find new sources for natural silk and also to develop regenerated protein fibers to supplement the limited amounts of B. mori and wild silks available in the market. In addition, it has been found that non-traditio...