Alternative moth-eye nanostructures: antireflective properties and composition of dimpled corneal nanocoatings in silk-moth ancestors

• Published in: Journal of nanobiotechnology 2017-09, Vol.15 (1), p.61-61, Article 61
• Main Authors: Kryuchkov, Mikhail, Lehmann, Jannis, Schaab, Jakob, Cherepanov, Vsevolod, Blagodatski, Artem, Fiebig, Manfred, Katanaev, Vladimir L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antireflection coatings; Antireflective nanocoatings; Apatelodes torrefacta; Bioengineering; Biomimetic materials; Biomimetic Materials - chemistry; Biomimetics; Bombycidae; Bombyx - chemistry; Bombyx - ultrastructure; Bombyx mandarina; Bombyx mori; Butterflies & moths; Compound Eye, Arthropod - chemistry; Compound Eye, Arthropod - ultrastructure; Cornea; Dimpling; Domestication; Drosophila; Gene loci; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Health aspects; Insect Proteins - analysis; Insects; Light; Microscopy; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Morphology; Moth-eye structures; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nanostructures - ultrastructure; Nanotechnology; Nucleotide sequence; Proteins; Reflectance; Short Communication; Silk; Silkmoth; Simulation; Surface Properties
• ISSN: 1477-3155; 1477-3155
• DOI: 10.1186/s12951-017-0297-y

Moth-eye nanostructures are a well-known example of biological antireflective surfaces formed by pseudoregular arrays of nipples and are often used as a template for biomimetic materials. Here, we provide morphological characterization of corneal nanostructures of moths from the Bombycidae family, including strains of domesticated Bombyx mori silk-moth, its wild ancestor Bombyx mandarina, and a more distantly related Apatelodes torrefacta. We find high diversification of the nanostructures and strong antireflective properties they provide. Curiously, the nano-dimple pattern of B. mandarina is found to reduce reflectance as efficiently as the nanopillars of A. torrefacta. Access to genome sequence of Bombyx further permitted us to pinpoint corneal proteins, likely contributing to formation of the antireflective nanocoatings. These findings open the door to bioengineering of nanostructures with novel properties, as well as invite industry to expand traditional moth-eye nanocoatings with the alternative ones described here.