Abstract
1. 1. Amino acid composition of silk (or webbing) produced by the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval), was determined. It differs from most other arthropod silk proteins, but resembles mammalian prekeratin. 2. 2. Several solvents were applied in order to dissolve spider mite silk. In addition to strong acids and bases, only Soluene® and sodium hypochlorite dissolved this silk. The effect of sodium hypochlorite on the amino acid composition of spider mite silk was compared with its effect on elastin and chymotrypsin. 3. 3. Several possible cross-linking mechanisms of spider mite silk are discussed on the strength of experimental evidence. 4. 4. It is suggested that spider mite silk represents an evolutionary link between pseudoscorpion fibroin and the keratins.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 457-462 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part - B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 15 Aug 1975 |
Keywords
- amino acids
- fibroin
- protein
- spider mite
- Tetranychus cinnabarinus
- web