Silk genes and silk gene expression in the spider Tengella perfuga (Zoropsidae), including a potential cribellar spidroin (CrSp).

ABSTRACT: Most spiders spin multiple types of silk, including silks for reproduction, prey capture, and draglines. Spiders are a megadiverse group and the majority of spider silks remain uncharacterized. For example, nothing is known about the silk molecules of Tengella perfuga, a spider that spins sheet webs lined with cribellar silk. Cribellar silk is a type of adhesive capture thread composed of numerous fibrils that originate from a specialized plate-like spinning organ called the cribellum. The predominant components of spider silks are spidroins, members of a protein family synthesized in silk glands. Here, we use silk gland RNA-Seq and cDNA libraries to infer T. perfuga silks at the protein level. We show that T. perfuga spiders express 13 silk transcripts representing at least five categorie

SUBMITTER: Correa-Garhwal SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6147414 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature