Egg Case Proteins of Latrodectus Hesperus
Poster Number
8
Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Spider silk has extraordinary mechanical properties and different silk types display different degrees of stiffness and strength. Dragline silk and capture silk have been the attention of many molecular studies because of their potential to be used as more environmentally friendly replacements for various industrial products while other silks have been ignored. In our studies of the black window spider Latrodectus hesperus we discovered two different proteins present within egg case silk that display different chemical and physical characteristics. To date little information is known about egg case silk and their molecular constituents. Our studies were designed to investigate the expression level of 2 recently isolated genes from the spider. Different glands of the black widow spider were used to isolate mRNAs and proteins for expression analyses using molecular techniques such as western blot analysis and real-time quantitative PCR. Western blot analysis analyzes silk proteins by using antibodies that bind to specific antigens to determine their expression levels. We also analyzed patterns of expression using constructed primers to amplify egg case gene sequence of interest using real-time PCR. The results of these studies will be discussed.
Location
Pacific Geosciences Center
Start Date
30-4-2005 1:00 PM
End Date
30-4-2005 3:00 PM
Egg Case Proteins of Latrodectus Hesperus
Pacific Geosciences Center
Spider silk has extraordinary mechanical properties and different silk types display different degrees of stiffness and strength. Dragline silk and capture silk have been the attention of many molecular studies because of their potential to be used as more environmentally friendly replacements for various industrial products while other silks have been ignored. In our studies of the black window spider Latrodectus hesperus we discovered two different proteins present within egg case silk that display different chemical and physical characteristics. To date little information is known about egg case silk and their molecular constituents. Our studies were designed to investigate the expression level of 2 recently isolated genes from the spider. Different glands of the black widow spider were used to isolate mRNAs and proteins for expression analyses using molecular techniques such as western blot analysis and real-time quantitative PCR. Western blot analysis analyzes silk proteins by using antibodies that bind to specific antigens to determine their expression levels. We also analyzed patterns of expression using constructed primers to amplify egg case gene sequence of interest using real-time PCR. The results of these studies will be discussed.