C-RUI: Molecular Mechanisms of Mechanical Diversity in Spider Silks

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This collaborative research project will involve undergraduate students in the study of the mechanical properties and the molecular mechanisms that give rise to the functional specificity in spider silks. It is significant to biology because the diversity of silk types seems to have radiated with the diversity of spiders. This study will compare silks from the black widow cobweb weaver Latrodectus, the funnel web weaver Hololena sp., the cobweb building house spider, Pholcus sp., and a tarantula, Grammostola rosea. These species each represent one of four major clades of the spiders (Arenae). By including this broad array of spiders, this project will explore the mechanical diversity of spider silk as a function of phylogenetic relationships. The study is also significant to materials science because spider silks display an extensive range of material properties from a small range of molecular differences. Thus, they represent an ideal system for correlating molecular structure and material properties.These spider silks will be studied on three levels: 1. Primary structure using microarray technology and gene sequencing, 2. Secondary structure from NMR spectroscopy, and 3. Mechanical properties from materials testing. The material properties will be correlated with the secondary structure and the primary sequence of the silk proteins in order to construct models of each silk on a molecular level. By exploring a variety of silks through multidisciplinary undergraduate research, this project will enable the correlation of the molecular differences with mechanical differences in spider silk. In addition to its research activities, the project will also include workshops for high school teachers and, consequently, will have a significant impact on high school education.