Abstract

Spider mites constitute an assemblage of well-known pests in agriculture, but are less known for their ability to spin silk of nanoscale diameters and high Young’s moduli. Here, we characterize silk of the gorse spider mite Tetranychus lintearius, which produces copious amounts of silk with nano-dimensions. We determined biophysical characteristics of the silk fibres and manufactured nanoparticles and biofilm derived from native silk. We determined silk structure using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and characterized silk nanoparticles using field emission scanning electron microscopy. Comparative studies using T. lintearius and silkworm silk nanoparticles and biofilm demonstrated that spider mite silk supports mammalian cell growth in vitro and that fluorescently labelled nanoparticles can enter cell cytoplasm. The potential for cytocompatibility demonstrated by this study, together with the prospect of recombinant silk production, opens a new avenue for biomedical application of this little-known silk.

Details

Title
The silk of gorse spider mite Tetranychus lintearius represents a novel natural source of nanoparticles and biomaterials
Author
Lozano-Pérez, Antonio Abel 1 ; Pagán, Ana 1 ; Zhurov Vladimir 2 ; Hudson, Stephen D 3 ; Hutter, Jeffrey L 3 ; Pruneri Valerio 4 ; Pérez-Moreno, Ignacio 5 ; Grbic’ Vojislava 2 ; Cenis José Luis 6 ; Grbic’ Miodrag 7 ; Aznar-Cervantes, Salvador 8 

 IMIDA, Departmento de Biotecnología, Genómica y Mejora Vegetal, La Alberca, Murcia, Spain 
 The University of Western Ontario, Department of Biology, London, Canada (GRID:grid.39381.30) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8884) 
 The University of Western Ontario, Department of Physics and Astronomy, London, Canada (GRID:grid.39381.30) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8884) 
 The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, ICFO—Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, Castelldefels, Spain (GRID:grid.473715.3) 
 University of La Rioja, Department of Agriculture and Food, Logroño, Spain (GRID:grid.119021.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2174 6969) 
 IMIDA, Departmento de Biotecnología, Genómica y Mejora Vegetal, La Alberca, Murcia, Spain (GRID:grid.39381.30) 
 The University of Western Ontario, Department of Biology, London, Canada (GRID:grid.39381.30) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8884); University of La Rioja, Department of Agriculture and Food, Logroño, Spain (GRID:grid.119021.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2174 6969); University of Belgrade, Department of Biology, Belgrade, Serbia (GRID:grid.7149.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2166 9385) 
 IMIDA, Departmento de Biotecnología, Genómica y Mejora Vegetal, La Alberca, Murcia, Spain (GRID:grid.7149.b) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2471534657
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.