THE NANOSTRUCTURE AND NANOMECHANICS OF A NOVEL BLACK WIDOW SPIDER SILK ASSESSED USING ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

摘要

The black widow spider produces numerous silk types that serve unique biological and mechanical functions. Recently, a novel member of the spider silk family, Pyroform Spidroin 1 (PySpl), was identified from the attachment discs of black widow spiders. Here we investigate the nanostructure and the nanoscale material behavior of native PySpl silks using atomic force microscopy.