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VanDyck MW, Long JH, Baker RH, Hayashi CY, Diaz C. Special Prey, Special Glue: NMR Spectroscopy on Aggregate Glue Components of Moth-Specialist Spiders, Cyrtarachninae. Biomimetics (Basel) 2024; 9:256. [PMID: 38786466 PMCID: PMC11117802 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics9050256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Orb-weaver spiders produce upwards of seven different types of silk, each with unique material properties. We focus on the adhesive within orb-weaving spider webs, aggregate glue silk. These droplets are composed of three main components: water, glycoproteins, and a wide range of low molecular mass compounds (LMMCs). These LMMCs are known to play a crucial role in maintaining the material properties of the glycoproteins, aid in water absorption from the environment, and increase surface adhesion. Orb-weavers within the Cyrtarachninae subfamily are moth specialists and have evolved glue droplets with novel material properties. This study investigated the biochemical composition and diversity of the LMMCs present in the aggregate glue of eight moth-specialist species and compared them with five generalist orb-weavers using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We hypothesized that the novel drying ability of moth-specialist glue was accompanied by novel LMMCs and lower overall percentages by silk weight of LMMCs. We measured no difference in LMMC weight by the type of prey specialization, but observed novel compositions in the glue of all eight moth-catching species. Further, we quantified the presence of a previously reported but unidentified compound that appears in the glue of all moth specialists. These silks can provide insight into the functions of bioadhesives and inform our own synthetic adhesives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max W. VanDyck
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA; (M.W.V.)
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - John H. Long
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA; (M.W.V.)
- Department of Cognitive Science, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA
| | - Richard H. Baker
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; (R.H.B.); (C.Y.H.)
| | - Cheryl Y. Hayashi
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; (R.H.B.); (C.Y.H.)
| | - Candido Diaz
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA; (M.W.V.)
- Department of Biological Sciences, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
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Diaz C, Long JH. Behavior and Bioadhesives: How Bolas Spiders, Mastophora hutchinsoni, Catch Moths. INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13121166. [PMID: 36555076 PMCID: PMC9780859 DOI: 10.3390/insects13121166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Spiders use various combinations of silks, adhesives, and behaviors to ensnare and trap prey. A common but difficult to catch prey in most spider habitats are moths. They easily escape typical orb-webs because their bodies are covered in sacrificial scales that flake off when in contact with the web's adhesives. This defense is defeated by spiders of the sub-family of Cyrtarachninae, moth-catching specialists who combine changes in orb-web structure, predatory behavior, and chemistry of the aggregate glue placed in those webs. The most extreme changes in web structure are shown by bolas spiders, who create a solitary capture strand containing only one or two glue droplets at the end of a single thread. They prey on male moths by releasing pheromones to draw them within range of their bolas, which they flick to ensnare the moth. We used a high-speed video camera to capture the behavior of the bolas spider Mastophora hutchinsoni. We calculated the kinematics of spiders and moths in the wild to model the physical and mechanical properties of the bolas during prey capture, the behavior of the moth, and how these factors lead to successful prey capture. We created a numerical model to explain the mechanical behavior of the bolas silk during prey capture. Our kinematic analysis shows that the material properties of the aggregate glue bolas of M. hutchinsoni are distinct from that of the other previously analyzed moth-specialist, Cyrtarachne akirai. The spring-like behavior of the M. hutchinsoni bolas suggests it spins a thicker liquid.
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Diaz C, Roff J. Mechanics of the Prey Capture Technique of the South African Grassland Bolas Spider, Cladomelea akermani. INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13121118. [PMID: 36555028 PMCID: PMC9785433 DOI: 10.3390/insects13121118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Spiders use various combinations of silks, adhesives, and behaviors to ensnare prey. One common but difficult-to-catch prey is moths. They easily escape typical orb-webs because their bodies are covered in tiny sacrificial scales that flake off when in contact with the web's adhesives. This defense is defeated by spiders of the sub-family of Cyrtarachninae-moth-catching specialists who combine changes in orb-web structure, predatory behavior, and chemistry of the aggregate glue placed in those webs. The most extreme changes in web structure are shown by the bolas spiders which create only one or two glue droplets at the end of a single thread. They prey on male moths by releasing pheromones to draw them close. Here, we confirm the hypothesis that the spinning behavior of the spider is directly used to spin its glue droplets using a high-speed video camera to observe the captured behavior of the bolas spider Cladomelea akermani as it actively spins its body and bolas. We use the kinematics of the spider and bolas to begin to quantify and model the physical and mechanical properties of the bolas during prey capture. We then examine why this species chooses to spin its body, an energetically costly behavior, during prey capture. We test the hypothesis that spinning helps to spread pheromones by creating a computational fluid dynamics model of airflow within an open field and comparing it to that of airflow within a tree, a common environment for bolas spiders that do not spin. Spinning in an open environment creates turbulent air, spreading pheromones further and creating a pocket of pheromones. Conversely, spinning within a tree does little to affect the natural airflow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candido Diaz
- Biology Department, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - John Roff
- Independent Researcher, Pietermaritzburg 3201, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
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Amarpuri G, Dhopatkar N, Blackledge TA, Dhinojwala A. Molecular Changes in Spider Viscid Glue As a Function of Relative Humidity Revealed Using Infrared Spectroscopy. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2022; 8:3354-3360. [PMID: 35894694 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.2c00529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Spider aggregate glue can absorb moisture from the atmosphere to reduce its viscosity and become tacky. The viscosity at which glue adhesion is maximized is remarkably similar across spider species, even though that viscosity is achieved at very different relative humidity (RH) values matching their diverse habitats. However, the molecular changes in the protein structure and the bonding state of water (both referred to here as molecular structure) with respect to the changes in RH are not known. We use attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to probe the changes in the molecular structure of glue as a function of RH for three spider species from different habitats. We find that the glue retains bound water at lower RH and absorbs liquid-like water at higher RH. The absorption of liquid-like water at high RH plasticizes the glue and explains the decrease in glue viscosity. The changes to protein conformations as a function RH are either subtle or not detectable by IR spectroscopy. Importantly, the molecular changes are reversible over multiple cycles of RH change. Further, separation of glue constituents results in a different humidity response as compared to pristine glue, supporting the standing hypothesis that the glue constituents have a synergistic association that makes spider glue a functional adhesive. The results presented in this study provide further insights into the mechanism of the humidity-responsive adhesion of spider glue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaurav Amarpuri
- School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, United States
| | - Nishad Dhopatkar
- School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, United States
| | - Todd A Blackledge
- Department of Biology, Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, United States
| | - Ali Dhinojwala
- School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, United States
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Diaz C, Baker RH, Long JH, Hayashi CY. Connecting materials, performance and evolution: a case study of the glue of moth-catching spiders (Cyrtarachninae). J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274249. [PMID: 35119070 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Morphological structures and extended phenotypes are made possible by materials that are encoded by the genome. Nearly all biomaterials are viscoelastic, which means that to understand performance, one must understand the strain rate-dependent properties of these materials in relevant ecological interactions, as the behavior of a material can vary dramatically and rapidly. Spider silks are an example of materials whose properties vary substantially intra- and inter-specifically. Here, we focus on aggregate silk, which functions as a biological adhesive. As a case study to understand how a material manifests from genome through organism to ecology, we highlight moth-specialist spiders, the Cyrtarachninae, and their glues as an ideal experimental system to investigate the relationship between genomics and ecologically variable performance of a biological material. There is a clear eco-evolutionary innovation that Cyrtarachne akirai and related species have evolved, a unique trait not found in other spiders, a glue which overcomes the scales of moths. By examining traditional orb-weavers, C. akirai and other subfamily members using biomechanical testing and genomic analysis, we argue that we can track the evolution of this novel bioadhesive and comment on the selection pressures influencing prey specialization. The importance of the ecological context of materials testing is exemplified by the poor performance of C. akirai glue on glass and the exceptional spreading ability and adhesive strength on moths. The genetic basis for these performance properties is experimentally tractable because spider silk genes are minimally pleiotropic and advances in genomic technologies now make possible the discovery of complete silk gene sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candido Diaz
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0731, USA
| | - Richard H Baker
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - John H Long
- Department of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0731, USA
| | - Cheryl Y Hayashi
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
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Stellwagen SD, Burns M. Repeat variation resolves a complete aggregate silk sequence of bolas spider Mastophora phrynosoma. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:1450-1458. [PMID: 33944935 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Many species of spider use a modified silk adhesive, called aggregate glue, to aid in prey capture. Aggregate spidroins (spider fibroins) are modified members of the spider silk family, however they are not spun into fibers as are their solid silk relatives. The genes that encode for aggregate spidroins are the largest of the known spidroin genes and are similarly highly repetitive. In this study, we used long read sequencing to discover the aggregate spidroin genes of the toad-like bolas spider, Mastophora phrynosoma, which employs the glue in a unique way, using only a single, large droplet to capture moths. While Aggregate Spidroin 1 (AgSp1) remains incomplete, AgSp2 is more than an extraordinary 62 kilobases of coding sequence, 20 kb longer than the longest spidroin on record. The structure of repeats from both aggregate silk proteins follows a similar pattern seen in other species, with the same strict conservation of amino acid residue number for much of the repeats' lengths. Interestingly, AgSp2 lacks the elevated number and groupings of glutamine residues seen in the other reported AgSp2 of a classic orb weaving species. The role of gene length in glue functionality remains a mystery, and thus discovering length differences across species will allow understanding and harnessing of this attribute for the next generation of bio-inspired adhesives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah D Stellwagen
- Department of Biological Sciences, UNC Charlotte, 9201, University City Blvd, NC 28223, USA
| | - Mercedes Burns
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, MD 21250, USA
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Alicea-Serrano AM, Onyak A, Dhinojwala A, Blackledge TA. Robust performance of spider viscid silk on hairy and smooth insect substrates. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:1432-1439. [PMID: 33856489 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spider viscid silk adheres to insects in orb webs and is a "smart-adhesive" that quickly changes droplet size, viscosity, and adhesiveness in response to atmospheric humidity. Different species of spiders "tune" water uptake to match the humidity of their foraging environments, achieving a similar "universal" viscosity that optimizes tradeoffs in spreading versus cohesive bulk energy needed to enhance adhesion. Too much water lowers viscosity so that the glue spreads well, but cohesive failure occurs easily, generating poor adhesion. However, the optimal viscosity model of adhesion is based on experiments using smooth glass. Here we test the hypothesis that a less viscous, "over-lubricated" glue, which shows poor adhesion on smooth glass, will be stickier on hairy insects because of its greater ability to spread across three-dimensional rough surfaces. We ran adhesion tests of the furrow spider (Larinioides cornutus (Clerck, 1757)) viscid silk on honey bee (Apis mellifera) thorax, with and without hairs, in either high or medium humidity. Our results show that "over-lubricated" glue increases adhesion on hairy surfaces, performing equally as well as an optimally viscous glue.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ariel Onyak
- Department of Biology, The University of Akron, Ohio
| | - Ali Dhinojwala
- School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, Ohio
| | - Todd A Blackledge
- Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience, The University of Akron, Ohio
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Zhao Y, Morita M, Sakamoto T. Analysis the water in aggregate glue droplets of spider orb web by TOF‐SIMS. SURF INTERFACE ANAL 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/sia.6924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yue Zhao
- Collaborative Open Research Center Kogakuin University Tokyo Japan
| | - Masato Morita
- Department of Applied Physics, School of Advanced Engineering Kogakuin University Tokyo Japan
| | - Tetsuo Sakamoto
- Department of Applied Physics, School of Advanced Engineering Kogakuin University Tokyo Japan
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Kono N, Nakamura H, Mori M, Tomita M, Arakawa K. Spidroin profiling of cribellate spiders provides insight into the evolution of spider prey capture strategies. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15721. [PMID: 32973264 PMCID: PMC7515903 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72888-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Orb-weaving spiders have two main methods of prey capture: cribellate spiders use dry, sticky capture threads, and ecribellate spiders use viscid glue droplets. Predation behaviour is a major evolutionary driving force, and it is important on spider phylogeny whether the cribellate and ecribellate spiders each evolved the orb architecture independently or both strategies were derived from an ancient orb web. These hypotheses have been discussed based on behavioural and morphological characteristics, with little discussion on this subject from the perspective of molecular materials of orb web, since there is little information about cribellate spider-associated spidroin genes. Here, we present in detail a spidroin catalogue of six uloborid species of cribellate orb-weaving spiders, including cribellate and pseudoflagelliform spidroins, with transcriptome assembly complemented with long read sequencing, where silk composition is confirmed by proteomics. Comparative analysis across families (Araneidae and Uloboridae) shows that the gene architecture, repetitive domains, and amino acid frequencies of the orb web constituting silk proteins are similar among orb-weaving spiders regardless of the prey capture strategy. Notably, the fact that there is a difference only in the prey capture thread proteins strongly supports the monophyletic origin of the orb web.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nobuaki Kono
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 403-1 Nipponkoku, Daihouji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0017, Japan.
| | - Hiroyuki Nakamura
- Spiber Inc., 234-1 Mizukami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0052, Japan
| | - Masaru Mori
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 403-1 Nipponkoku, Daihouji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0017, Japan
| | - Masaru Tomita
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 403-1 Nipponkoku, Daihouji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0017, Japan
| | - Kazuharu Arakawa
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 403-1 Nipponkoku, Daihouji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0017, Japan
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Cooperation and conflicts during prey capture in colonies of the colonial spider Parawixia bistriata (Araneae: Araneidae). Acta Ethol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10211-020-00342-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Diaz C, Maksuta D, Amarpuri G, Tanikawa A, Miyashita T, Dhinojwala A, Blackledge TA. The moth specialist spider Cyrtarachne akirai uses prey scales to increase adhesion. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20190792. [PMID: 31992163 PMCID: PMC7014792 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Contaminants decrease adhesive strength by interfering with substrate contact. Spider webs adhering to moths present an ideal model to investigate how natural adhesives overcome contamination because moths' sacrificial layer of scales rubs off on sticky silk, facilitating escape. However, Cyrtarachninae spiders have evolved gluey capture threads that adhere well to moths. Cyrtarachne capture threads contain large glue droplets oversaturated with water, readily flowing but also prone to drying out. Here, we compare the spreading and adhesion of Cyrtarachne akirai glue on intact mothwings, denuded cuticle and glass to the glue of a common orb-weaving spider, Larinioides cornutus, to understand how C. akirai glue overcomes dirty surfaces. Videos show that C. akirai's glue spreading accelerates along the underlying moth cuticle after the glue seeps beneath the moth scales-not seen on denuded cuticle or hydrophilic glass. Larinioides cornutus glue droplets failed to penetrate the moth scales, their force of adhesion thus limited by the strength of attachment of scales to the cuticle. The large size and low viscosity of C. akirai glue droplets function together to use the three-dimensional topography of the moth's scales against itself via capillary forces. Infrared spectroscopy shows C. akirai glue droplets readily lose free-flowing water. We hypothesize that this loss of water leads to increased viscosity during spreading, increasing cohesive forces during pull-off. This glue's two-phase behaviour shows how natural selection can leverage a defensive specialization of prey against themselves and highlights a new design principle for synthetic adhesives for adhering to troublesome surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candido Diaz
- Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Daniel Maksuta
- Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Gaurav Amarpuri
- Department of Polymer Science, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Akio Tanikawa
- Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tadashi Miyashita
- Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ali Dhinojwala
- Department of Polymer Science, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA
| | - Todd A. Blackledge
- Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA
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Toward Spider Glue: Long Read Scaffolding for Extreme Length and Repetitious Silk Family Genes AgSp1 and AgSp2 with Insights into Functional Adaptation. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2019; 9:1909-1919. [PMID: 30975702 PMCID: PMC6553539 DOI: 10.1534/g3.119.400065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
An individual orb weaving spider can spin up to seven different types of silk, each with unique functions and material properties. The capture spiral silk of classic two-dimensional aerial orb webs is coated with an amorphous glue that functions to retain prey that get caught in a web. This unique modified silk is partially comprised of spidroins (spider fibroins) encoded by two members of the silk gene family. The glue differs from solid silk fibers as it is a viscoelastic, amorphic, wet material that is responsive to environmental conditions. Most spidroins are encoded by extremely large, highly repetitive genes that cannot be sequenced using short read technology alone, as the repetitive regions are longer than read length. We sequenced for the first time the complete genomic Aggregate Spidroin 1 (AgSp1) and Aggregate Spidroin 2 (AgSp2) glue genes of orb weaving spider Argiope trifasciata using error-prone long reads to scaffold for high accuracy short reads. The massive coding sequences are 42,270 bp (AgSp1) and 20,526 bp (AgSp2) in length, the largest silk genes currently described. The majority of the predicted amino acid sequence of AgSp1 consists of two similar but distinct motifs that are repeated ∼40 times each, while AgSp2 contains ∼48 repetitions of an AgSp1-similar motif, interspersed by regions high in glutamine. Comparisons of AgSp repetitive motifs from orb web and cobweb spiders show regions of strict conservation followed by striking diversification. Glues from these two spider families have evolved contrasting material properties in adhesion (stickiness), extensibility (stretchiness), and elasticity (the ability of the material to resume its native shape), which we link to mechanisms established for related silk genes in the same family. Full-length aggregate spidroin sequences from diverse species with differing material characteristics will provide insights for designing tunable bio-inspired adhesives for a variety of unique purposes.
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