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Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)

Natural silks crafted by spiders comprise some of the most versatile materials known. Artificial silks–based on the sequences of their natural brethren–replicate some desirable biophysical properties and are increasingly utilized in commercial and medical applications today. To characterize the repe...

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Autores principales: Babb, Paul L., Gregorič, Matjaž, Lahens, Nicholas F., Nicholson, David N., Hayashi, Cheryl Y., Higgins, Linden, Kuntner, Matjaž, Agnarsson, Ingi, Voight, Benjamin F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9170102/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35666730
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268660
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author Babb, Paul L.
Gregorič, Matjaž
Lahens, Nicholas F.
Nicholson, David N.
Hayashi, Cheryl Y.
Higgins, Linden
Kuntner, Matjaž
Agnarsson, Ingi
Voight, Benjamin F.
author_facet Babb, Paul L.
Gregorič, Matjaž
Lahens, Nicholas F.
Nicholson, David N.
Hayashi, Cheryl Y.
Higgins, Linden
Kuntner, Matjaž
Agnarsson, Ingi
Voight, Benjamin F.
author_sort Babb, Paul L.
collection PubMed
description Natural silks crafted by spiders comprise some of the most versatile materials known. Artificial silks–based on the sequences of their natural brethren–replicate some desirable biophysical properties and are increasingly utilized in commercial and medical applications today. To characterize the repertoire of protein sequences giving silks their biophysical properties and to determine the set of expressed genes across each unique silk gland contributing to the formation of natural silks, we report here draft genomic and transcriptomic assemblies of Darwin’s bark spider, Caerostris darwini, an orb-weaving spider whose dragline is one of the toughest known biomaterials on Earth. We identify at least 31 putative spidroin genes, with expansion of multiple spidroin gene classes relative to the golden orb-weaver, Trichonephila clavipes. We observed substantial sharing of spidroin repetitive sequence motifs between species as well as new motifs unique to C. darwini. Comparative gene expression analyses across six silk gland isolates in females plus a composite isolate of all silk glands in males demonstrated gland and sex-specific expression of spidroins, facilitating putative assignment of novel spidroin genes to classes. Broad expression of spidroins across silk gland types suggests that silks emanating from a given gland represent composite materials to a greater extent than previously appreciated. We hypothesize that the extraordinary toughness of C. darwini major ampullate dragline silk may relate to the unique protein composition of major ampullate spidroins, combined with the relatively high expression of stretchy flagelliform spidroins whose union into a single fiber may be aided by novel motifs and cassettes that act as molecule-binding helices. Our assemblies extend the catalog of sequences and sets of expressed genes that confer the unique biophysical properties observed in natural silks.
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spelling pubmed-91701022022-06-07 Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini) Babb, Paul L. Gregorič, Matjaž Lahens, Nicholas F. Nicholson, David N. Hayashi, Cheryl Y. Higgins, Linden Kuntner, Matjaž Agnarsson, Ingi Voight, Benjamin F. PLoS One Research Article Natural silks crafted by spiders comprise some of the most versatile materials known. Artificial silks–based on the sequences of their natural brethren–replicate some desirable biophysical properties and are increasingly utilized in commercial and medical applications today. To characterize the repertoire of protein sequences giving silks their biophysical properties and to determine the set of expressed genes across each unique silk gland contributing to the formation of natural silks, we report here draft genomic and transcriptomic assemblies of Darwin’s bark spider, Caerostris darwini, an orb-weaving spider whose dragline is one of the toughest known biomaterials on Earth. We identify at least 31 putative spidroin genes, with expansion of multiple spidroin gene classes relative to the golden orb-weaver, Trichonephila clavipes. We observed substantial sharing of spidroin repetitive sequence motifs between species as well as new motifs unique to C. darwini. Comparative gene expression analyses across six silk gland isolates in females plus a composite isolate of all silk glands in males demonstrated gland and sex-specific expression of spidroins, facilitating putative assignment of novel spidroin genes to classes. Broad expression of spidroins across silk gland types suggests that silks emanating from a given gland represent composite materials to a greater extent than previously appreciated. We hypothesize that the extraordinary toughness of C. darwini major ampullate dragline silk may relate to the unique protein composition of major ampullate spidroins, combined with the relatively high expression of stretchy flagelliform spidroins whose union into a single fiber may be aided by novel motifs and cassettes that act as molecule-binding helices. Our assemblies extend the catalog of sequences and sets of expressed genes that confer the unique biophysical properties observed in natural silks. Public Library of Science 2022-06-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9170102/ /pubmed/35666730 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268660 Text en © 2022 Babb et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Babb, Paul L.
Gregorič, Matjaž
Lahens, Nicholas F.
Nicholson, David N.
Hayashi, Cheryl Y.
Higgins, Linden
Kuntner, Matjaž
Agnarsson, Ingi
Voight, Benjamin F.
Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title_full Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title_fullStr Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title_short Characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini)
title_sort characterization of the genome and silk-gland transcriptomes of darwin’s bark spider (caerostris darwini)
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9170102/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35666730
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268660
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