SPIDER SILK RESEARCH
Spider silks have superior material properties, including unrivaled toughness, extensibility, and adhesion. Some spider species spin up to eight distinct silks, with each silk composed of different members of the same protein family. This diversity explains the wide range of mechanical properties of spider silks that has enabled the construction of complex webs by different species, including stretchy nets, slingshots, lassos, and water-adhering traps. Their impressive mechanical properties also makes the production of materials mimicking spider silks an enduring goal of biological engineering.
Our work integrates multiple areas of expertise to understand silk evolution and to translate the natural diversity of spider silks into potential products: from identifying genes encoding the proteins attributed to extreme fiber toughness and large webs (Garb et al. 2019, Communications Biology), to morphological studies of the spinning apparatus (Correa-Garhwal et al. J. Arachnology), and to protein expression for developing biomaterials that mimic the impressive properties of spider silks (Jaleel et al. 2020, Materials). We are using genomic and bioinformatic tools to characterize silk proteins from a variety of species, in addition to phylogenetic analyses to trace the complex history of silk evolution. Products of our work also include large-scale sequence databases we are assembling for genome annotation and phylogenetic and population genetic marker development. We also design and express recombinant spider silk proteins to relate sequence structure to function, and explore biomimetic applications.
Our work integrates multiple areas of expertise to understand silk evolution and to translate the natural diversity of spider silks into potential products: from identifying genes encoding the proteins attributed to extreme fiber toughness and large webs (Garb et al. 2019, Communications Biology), to morphological studies of the spinning apparatus (Correa-Garhwal et al. J. Arachnology), and to protein expression for developing biomaterials that mimic the impressive properties of spider silks (Jaleel et al. 2020, Materials). We are using genomic and bioinformatic tools to characterize silk proteins from a variety of species, in addition to phylogenetic analyses to trace the complex history of silk evolution. Products of our work also include large-scale sequence databases we are assembling for genome annotation and phylogenetic and population genetic marker development. We also design and express recombinant spider silk proteins to relate sequence structure to function, and explore biomimetic applications.
FUNDED PROJECTS
2024-2027 National Science Foundation, Integrative Organismal Systems, IOS-2423117. MCA: Bridging silk evolutionary genomics and biomaterial engineering for career advancement
2024-2027 United States - Israel Binational Science Foundation, 2023038. Lower susceptibility to parasitism as a mechanism promoting the invasion success of the brown widow spider Latrodectus geometricus.
2023-2025 National Science Foundation, Division of Biological Infrastructure, DBI-2208904 NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Form and Function of a water specialist orb weaver: From Molecules to Biomechanics (Postdoctoral fellowship application of Angela Alicea-Serrano)
2021-2025 National Science Foundation, IntBio-2128029 IntBio: Collaborative Research: Evolutionary and Functional Trade-offs in Extreme Sensory Capabilities of a Remarkable Clade of Nocturnal Predators.
2017-2021 National Science Foundation, IOS-1656458. Collaborative Research: Comparative analyses of structural designs underlying functional performance of the toughest spider silk
2015-2019 National Institutes of Health R15 AREA Grant: 2 R15 GM097714-02 Discovering Biomedically Significant Spider Venom Toxins with Genomics
2014-2018 National Science Foundation DBI-1429212; MRI: Acquisition of a Next Generation Sequencing System for Genomics Research and Training at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
2011-2015 National Institutes of Health R15 AREA Grant: 1R15GM097714-01 Discovering Biomedically Significant Spider Venom Toxins with Genomics
2007-2009 National Institutes of Health, 1F32GM083661-01 Kirschstein National Research Service Award, Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship, Molecular evolution of latrotoxins: neurotoxins from black widow spiders
2024-2027 United States - Israel Binational Science Foundation, 2023038. Lower susceptibility to parasitism as a mechanism promoting the invasion success of the brown widow spider Latrodectus geometricus.
2023-2025 National Science Foundation, Division of Biological Infrastructure, DBI-2208904 NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Form and Function of a water specialist orb weaver: From Molecules to Biomechanics (Postdoctoral fellowship application of Angela Alicea-Serrano)
2021-2025 National Science Foundation, IntBio-2128029 IntBio: Collaborative Research: Evolutionary and Functional Trade-offs in Extreme Sensory Capabilities of a Remarkable Clade of Nocturnal Predators.
2017-2021 National Science Foundation, IOS-1656458. Collaborative Research: Comparative analyses of structural designs underlying functional performance of the toughest spider silk
2015-2019 National Institutes of Health R15 AREA Grant: 2 R15 GM097714-02 Discovering Biomedically Significant Spider Venom Toxins with Genomics
2014-2018 National Science Foundation DBI-1429212; MRI: Acquisition of a Next Generation Sequencing System for Genomics Research and Training at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
2011-2015 National Institutes of Health R15 AREA Grant: 1R15GM097714-01 Discovering Biomedically Significant Spider Venom Toxins with Genomics
2007-2009 National Institutes of Health, 1F32GM083661-01 Kirschstein National Research Service Award, Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship, Molecular evolution of latrotoxins: neurotoxins from black widow spiders
