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Elongate cavities and skin–core structure in Nephila spider silk observed by electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Frische,
Maunsbach,
Vollrath
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2818.1998.00285.x
Subject(s) - silk , spider silk , electron microscope , polymer science , transmission electron microscopy , weaving , spider , homogeneous , core (optical fiber) , electron micrographs , materials science , nanotechnology , biology , composite material , optics , zoology , physics , thermodynamics
Major ampullate silk fibres from the orb‐weaving spider Nephila madagascariensis were analysed by transmission electron microscopy. The fibres have a thin outer layer surrounding a column of apparently homogeneous material which contains elongate cavities orientated parallel to the silk fibre axis. The cavities appear similar to ‘elongate vacuolar droplets’ observed in the silk of Antheraea silkmoth larvae. The overall skin–core structure is probably the result of a rheological pattern originating in the two secreting regions recognized in Nephila silk glands; the cavities indicate material inhomogeneities.