Published 20 August 2024 at 14.02
Domestic. The spider thread that spiders use as an escape line is the world's toughest fiber. Now researchers at SLU and KI have made important new discoveries about how it forms and is structured.
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One of the threads that the spider spins, the one used as a safety line, is known for its extraordinary strength and flexibility, but the precise mechanisms behind its production are still largely unknown.
A new study from KI and SLU published in the journal Science Advances provides new insights into this fascinating material. With advanced gene sequencing technology, the spider's silk-producing gland has been able to be examined at the cellular level. The result shows what the thread's components are and how it is structured, information that can provide answers to why spider thread is such a strong and tough material. Spider thread is the toughest fiber known to us. It can absorb more kinetic energy than, for example, the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.
The research revealed that the gland is made up of six different cell types, each restricted to one of three distinct zones. The researchers were also able to show that the spider thread essentially consists of 18 different proteins, including some previously unknown. In addition, the proteins secreted by the cells in the three zones of the gland are not mixed, but remain as separate layers in the fiber. This means that the spider thread consists of three tubular layers of protein mixtures that differ significantly in composition.
According to the researchers, this knowledge is crucial for the development of artificial spider silk with properties that mirror those of the natural fiber. It also provides an insight into how nature has elegantly solved the challenges of spinning an exceptionally tough fiber from a protein solution.