DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Spider Silk Evolution Across Ancient & Recent Phylogenetic Divergences

论文研究：古代蜘蛛丝的进化

• 批准号: 0910365
• 负责人: Cheryl Hayashi
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0910365&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Spider; Silk; Evolution

Silk is essential to the ecology and evolutionary success of spiders. Despite the clear significance of silk to spiders, little is known about how silk genes are shaped over time by natural selection. This project furthers investigation of the evolutionary and functional changes of silks spun by species of the genus Aliatypus. These spiders rely on silk for constructing burrows and trapdoors, without which they could not survive. Silk genes from different Aliatypus species will be sequenced to determine the relationships and rates of change among the genes. These results will reveal how silk evolves among closely-related species and how molecules adapt to local environmental conditions.Due to its extraordinary mechanical properties, spider silk is being used to develop novel biomimetic materials that are tougher than Kevlar but also biodegradable. This research will help bioengineers understand which elements of silk sequences correspond to particular functions or environments. Additionally, understanding the dynamics of silk gene variation has relevance to other repetitive, structural proteins, such as biomedically important collagens, elastins, and amyloids. Furthermore, Starrett will contribute to the cataloging of native fauna in the biologically diverse Southwest and enable undergraduates to gain both field and laboratory research experiences.

蛛丝对蜘蛛的生态和进化成功至关重要。尽管蛛丝对蜘蛛有着明确的意义，但人们对蛛丝基因是如何通过自然选择随着时间的推移而形成的却知之甚少。本项目旨在进一步研究Aliatypus属物种所纺蚕丝的进化和功能变化。这些蜘蛛依靠丝来建造洞穴和活板门，没有它们就无法生存。来自不同Aliatypus物种的丝绸基因将被测序，以确定基因之间的关系和变化率。这些研究结果将揭示蛛丝在亲缘关系密切的物种中是如何进化的，以及分子是如何适应当地环境条件的。由于其非凡的机械性能，蜘蛛丝正被用于开发新型仿生材料，这种材料比凯夫拉更坚韧，但也可生物降解。这项研究将帮助生物工程师了解丝蛋白序列的哪些元素对应于特定的功能或环境。此外，了解丝基因变异的动力学与其他重复性结构蛋白，如生物医学上重要的胶原蛋白，弹性蛋白和淀粉样蛋白有关。此外，Starrett将有助于在生物多样性西南地区的本土动物的编目，并使本科生获得实地和实验室研究经验。