Spider Silk: Steel of the Future
Poster Number
30
Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Spider silk has long been an avenue of research for scientists due to its many potential uses in various aspects of life. Due to its versatile and durable nature there are many prospects for the use of silk fibers in the military, the automobile industry, and even the aircraft industry. In light of this, the goal of our research was to isolate new cDNA sequences from a library to find proteins beneficial in the artificial spinning spider silk process. To do this, we first plated a cDNA library that was constructed from silk-gland tissue to obtain individual viruses carrying different spider silk genes. After plating, individual viruses were amplified and their corresponding cDNAs were retrieved by single clone excision from the recombinant viral chromosomes. Excised products, which were in the form of phagemid particles, were then transformed into bacteria. Recombinant plasmids carrying the spider cDNAs were amplified and plasmid DNA was isolated from the bacterial cells using a plasmid miniprep purification protocol. Plasmids were then subject to restriction digestion to release the cDNAs from the cloning vector. cDNA fragments were visualized using agarose gel electrophoresis to verify the presence of inserts. Clones carrying cDNAs were then subject to DNA sequence analysis. Following DNA sequencing, nucleic acid sequences will be analyzed using bioinformatics. Results of these findings and their relative importance to silk fibers or the assembly process will be discussed after the completion of this analysis.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom B
Start Date
1-5-2010 1:00 PM
End Date
1-5-2010 3:00 PM
Spider Silk: Steel of the Future
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom B
Spider silk has long been an avenue of research for scientists due to its many potential uses in various aspects of life. Due to its versatile and durable nature there are many prospects for the use of silk fibers in the military, the automobile industry, and even the aircraft industry. In light of this, the goal of our research was to isolate new cDNA sequences from a library to find proteins beneficial in the artificial spinning spider silk process. To do this, we first plated a cDNA library that was constructed from silk-gland tissue to obtain individual viruses carrying different spider silk genes. After plating, individual viruses were amplified and their corresponding cDNAs were retrieved by single clone excision from the recombinant viral chromosomes. Excised products, which were in the form of phagemid particles, were then transformed into bacteria. Recombinant plasmids carrying the spider cDNAs were amplified and plasmid DNA was isolated from the bacterial cells using a plasmid miniprep purification protocol. Plasmids were then subject to restriction digestion to release the cDNAs from the cloning vector. cDNA fragments were visualized using agarose gel electrophoresis to verify the presence of inserts. Clones carrying cDNAs were then subject to DNA sequence analysis. Following DNA sequencing, nucleic acid sequences will be analyzed using bioinformatics. Results of these findings and their relative importance to silk fibers or the assembly process will be discussed after the completion of this analysis.