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

本合作研究项目将由本科生参与，研究蜘蛛丝的机械特性和分子机制，从而产生蜘蛛丝的功能特异性。这对生物学来说意义重大，因为蛛丝种类的多样性似乎已经随着蜘蛛的多样性而扩散。本研究将比较黑寡妇织网蛛Latrodectus、漏斗织网蛛Hololena sp.、造网蛛Pholcus sp.和狼蛛Grammostola rosea的蛛丝。这些物种分别代表了蜘蛛的四个主要分支之一（Arenae）。通过包括这些广泛的蜘蛛，该项目将探索蜘蛛丝的机械多样性作为系统发育关系的功能。这项研究对材料科学也很重要，因为蜘蛛丝从很小范围的分子差异中显示出广泛的材料特性。因此，它们代表了一种理想的系统来关联分子结构和材料性质。这些蛛丝将从三个层面进行研究：1。利用微阵列技术和基因测序进行初级结构分析；二级结构从核磁共振光谱，和3。材料测试的机械性能。材料性质将与丝蛋白的二级结构和一级序列相关联，以便在分子水平上构建每种丝的模型。本项目通过本科多学科研究探索多种蛛丝，将蜘蛛丝的分子差异与力学差异联系起来。除了研究活动外，该项目还将包括为高中教师举办讲习班，因此将对高中教育产生重大影响。

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.