Spider web glue paves way for new biobased 'green' glues

Washington, Dec 23 (ANI): A sticky substance in spider webs could lead to the development of a new generation of biobased adhesives and glues-"green" glues- that could replace some petroleum-based products for a range of uses, say scientists in Wyoming.

Omer Choresh and colleagues have noted that much research has been done on spider web silk, which rivals steel in its strength.

However, scientists know comparatively little about web glue, which coats the silk threads and is among the world's strongest biological glues.

In earlier studies, it was revealed that spiders make web glue from glycoproteins, or proteins bits of sugar attached.

The scientists analysed web glue from the golden orb weaving spider, noted for spinning intricate webs.

They identified two new glycoproteins in the glue and showed that domains of these proteins were produced from opposite strands of the same DNA.

"Once the cloned genes are over expressed in systems such as insect or bacterial cell cultures, large-scale production of the glycoprotein can be used to develop a new biobased glue for a variety of purposes," noted the researchers.

The study has been published in the latest issue of ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal. (ANI)