Spider's Nanofibres (SpiNa) - Australia

• Applicant: Dr. Anna-Christin Joel
• Subject Area: Systematics and Morphology (Zoology) ; Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: from 2017 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 349374213

The mechanical properties of spider silk have attracted the interest of researchers for a long time now. However, due to the focus on the material "silk", it has long been overlooked that spiders also process the single silk fibres into complex threads. The most exceptionally processing is performed by cribellate spiders: they produces capture threads by combining three different silks and up to 40,000 single fibres to one single thread. The main component of such a thread are nanofibres with a diameter of about 20 nm. To produce such capture threads, the cribellate spider thus has to process, handle and intertwine nanofibres. Such an ability is not only unique in nature, but also has no counterpart in technical processes.To understand how cribellate spiders are able to process, handle and intertwine nanofibres, a model of the cribellate thread production has been established for the feather-legged spider Uloborus plumipes (Uloboridae). First experiments with a related Deinopidae revealed a similar thread production by these spiders. Hence, it has been hypothesized that the cribellate thread production is a conserved feature of all cribellate spiders. However, about 300 different species of cribellate spiders exist and several of those produce capture threads with distinct sophisticated structures. The model is not able to explain the formation of those, though. Hence, it is nessecary to modify the current model and validate a new and universal model of the cribellate capture thread production.The development of such a modified model and its validation is the aim of "Spider's Nanofibres (SpiNa) - Australia". Within this project, the thread production of cribellate spiders having diverging morphological features will be examined. Using those results, a universally valid model will be established. This new model of the cribellate thread production will be the first model describing a natural thread assembly. Furthermore, it can serve as a biomimetic solution for current problems within the technical production of nanofibres.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Australia
• Host: Professorin Marie Herberstein, Ph.D.