Chitin in the silk gland ducts of the spider Nephila edulis and the silkworm Bombyx mori

Here we report the detection and localisation of chitin in the cuticle of the spinning ducts of both the spider Nephila edulis and the silkworm Bombyx mori. Our observations demonstrate that the duct walls of both animals contain chitin notwithstanding totally independent evolutionary pathways of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-08, Vol.8 (8), p.e73225-e73225
Main Authors: Davies, Gwilym J G, Knight, David P, Vollrath, Fritz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Animals
Biological Evolution
Biology
Bombyx - anatomy & histology
Bombyx - metabolism
Bombyx mori
Chemistry
Chitin
Chitin - metabolism
Digital cameras
Exocrine Glands - anatomy & histology
Exocrine Glands - metabolism
Fourier transforms
Materials Science
Mechanical properties
Morphology
Polymers
Proteins
Silk
Silk gland
Spiders
Spiders - anatomy & histology
Spiders - metabolism
Spinning
Zoology
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Summary:Here we report the detection and localisation of chitin in the cuticle of the spinning ducts of both the spider Nephila edulis and the silkworm Bombyx mori. Our observations demonstrate that the duct walls of both animals contain chitin notwithstanding totally independent evolutionary pathways of the systems. We conclude that chitin may well be an essential component for the construction of spinning ducts; we further conclude that in both species chitin may indicate the evolutionary origin of the spinning ducts.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0073225