Comparison of Silks from Pseudoips prasinana and Bombyx mori Shows Molecular Convergence in Fibroin Heavy Chains but Large Differences in Other Silk Components

Many lepidopteran larvae produce silk feeding shelters and cocoons to protect themselves and the developing pupa. As caterpillars evolved, the quality of the silk, shape of the cocoon, and techniques in forming and leaving the cocoon underwent a number of changes. The silk of Pseudoips prasinana has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2021-08, Vol.22 (15), p.8246
Main Authors: Rindos, Michal, Kucerova, Lucie, Rouhova, Lenka, Sehadova, Hana, Sery, Michal, Hradilova, Miluse, Konik, Peter, Zurovec, Michal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Bena prasinana
Bombycidae
Bombyx mori
Chains
Cocoons
Enzymes
fibrohexamerins
Larvae
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Mechanical properties
Microscopy
Nolidae
Peptides
Phylogeny
Proteins
Silk
Silk gland
Tensile strength
transcriptomics
X ray analysis
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Summary:Many lepidopteran larvae produce silk feeding shelters and cocoons to protect themselves and the developing pupa. As caterpillars evolved, the quality of the silk, shape of the cocoon, and techniques in forming and leaving the cocoon underwent a number of changes. The silk of Pseudoips prasinana has previously been studied using X-ray analysis and classified in the same category as that of Bombyx mori, suggesting that silks of both species have similar properties despite their considerable phylogenetic distance. In the present study, we examined P. prasinana silk using ‘omics’ technology, including silk gland RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and a mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of cocoon proteins. We found that although the central repetitive amino acid sequences encoding crystalline domains of fibroin heavy chain molecules are almost identical in both species, the resulting fibers exhibit quite different mechanical properties. Our results suggest that these differences are most probably due to the higher content of fibrohexamerin and fibrohexamerin-like molecules in P. prasinana silk. Furthermore, we show that whilst P. prasinana cocoons are predominantly made of silk similar to that of other Lepidoptera, they also contain a second, minor silk type, which is present only at the escape valve.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms22158246