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Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction

An orb web’s prey capture thread relies on its glue droplets to retain insects until a spider can subdue them. Each droplet’s viscoelastic glycoprotein adhesive core extends to dissipate the forces of prey struggle as it transfers force to stiffer, support line flagelliform fibers. In large orb webs...

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Autores principales: Opell, Brent D., Stellwagen, Sarah D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6937294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31889090
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56707-1
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author Opell, Brent D.
Stellwagen, Sarah D.
author_facet Opell, Brent D.
Stellwagen, Sarah D.
author_sort Opell, Brent D.
collection PubMed
description An orb web’s prey capture thread relies on its glue droplets to retain insects until a spider can subdue them. Each droplet’s viscoelastic glycoprotein adhesive core extends to dissipate the forces of prey struggle as it transfers force to stiffer, support line flagelliform fibers. In large orb webs, switchback capture thread turns are placed at the bottom of the web before a continuous capture spiral progresses from the web’s periphery to its interior. To determine if the properties of capture thread droplets change during web spinning, we characterized droplet and glycoprotein volumes and material properties from the bottom, top, middle, and inner regions of webs. Both droplet and glycoprotein volume decreased during web construction, but there was a progressive increase in the glycoprotein’s Young’s modulus and toughness. Increases in the percentage of droplet aqueous material indicated that these increases in material properties are not due to reduced glycoprotein viscosity resulting from lower droplet hygroscopicity. Instead, they may result from changes in aqueous layer compounds that condition the glycoprotein. A 6-fold difference in glycoprotein toughness and a 70-fold difference in Young’s modulus across a web documents the phenotypic plasticity of this natural adhesive and its potential to inspire new materials.
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spelling pubmed-69372942020-01-06 Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction Opell, Brent D. Stellwagen, Sarah D. Sci Rep Article An orb web’s prey capture thread relies on its glue droplets to retain insects until a spider can subdue them. Each droplet’s viscoelastic glycoprotein adhesive core extends to dissipate the forces of prey struggle as it transfers force to stiffer, support line flagelliform fibers. In large orb webs, switchback capture thread turns are placed at the bottom of the web before a continuous capture spiral progresses from the web’s periphery to its interior. To determine if the properties of capture thread droplets change during web spinning, we characterized droplet and glycoprotein volumes and material properties from the bottom, top, middle, and inner regions of webs. Both droplet and glycoprotein volume decreased during web construction, but there was a progressive increase in the glycoprotein’s Young’s modulus and toughness. Increases in the percentage of droplet aqueous material indicated that these increases in material properties are not due to reduced glycoprotein viscosity resulting from lower droplet hygroscopicity. Instead, they may result from changes in aqueous layer compounds that condition the glycoprotein. A 6-fold difference in glycoprotein toughness and a 70-fold difference in Young’s modulus across a web documents the phenotypic plasticity of this natural adhesive and its potential to inspire new materials. Nature Publishing Group UK 2019-12-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6937294/ /pubmed/31889090 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56707-1 Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Article
Opell, Brent D.
Stellwagen, Sarah D.
Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title_full Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title_fullStr Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title_full_unstemmed Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title_short Properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during Argiope trifasciata web construction
title_sort properties of orb weaving spider glycoprotein glue change during argiope trifasciata web construction
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6937294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31889090
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56707-1
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