Structural characterization of a variety of spider silks from Turkey using different biophysical techniques

Semra De*, Sevgi Haman Bayari, Tuncay Türkeş, Y. Orhan Mergen, Ömer Çelik, Vural Bütün, Mustafa F. Sargon, Neslihan Kocatepe, Manfred Kriechbaum

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Various experimental methods (XRD, FTIR, SAXS, DLS and SEM) were used to investigate structures of the silk samples weaved by spiders in Turkey. Silk samples were collected from the natural habitats belonging to the spider species (i.e., Near Salt Lake/Şereflikoçhisar, vriz Dam/ Ereǧron;li-Konya, Karataş Lake/Burdur and several locations in Black Sea Region of Turkey). Among all collected species, Araneidae (Araneus angulatus, Argiope bruennichi, Argiope lobata, Larinoides cornutus), Eresidae (Eresus cinnaberinus), Agelenidae (Agelena labyrinthica), Oecobidae (Uroctea durandi), Miturgidae (Cheiracanthium erraticum), Salticidae (Heliophanus flavipes, Philaeus chrysops), Theridiidae (Steatoda paykulliana) and Gnaphosidae were found significant amongst other spider species. Structural differences and similarities of these species were reported. Diameter range of draglines, inter crystallite distance of nano-size structures, mean size range of nano-structure aggregations, crystallite size range, information about protein content were obtained. The mechanical properties of some silk fibers were also investigated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)155-167
Number of pages13
JournalSpectroscopy
Volume25
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • FTIR
  • mechanical testing
  • scattering methods
  • SEM
  • Spider silk
  • XRD

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Spectroscopy

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