keyword
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38542528/quantitative-shotgun-proteomic-analysis-of-bacteria-after-overexpression-of-recombinant-spider-miniature-spidroin-masp1
#1
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Kathryn Randene, J Alexander Hoang Mendoza, Michael Ysit, Craig Vierra
Spider silk has extraordinary mechanical properties, displaying high tensile strength, elasticity, and toughness. Given the high performance of natural fibers, one of the long-term goals of the silk community is to manufacture large-scale synthetic spider silk. This process requires vast quantities of recombinant proteins for wet-spinning applications. Attempts to synthesize large amounts of native size recombinant spidroins in diverse cell types have been unsuccessful. In these studies, we design and express recombinant miniature black widow MaSp1 spidroins in bacteria that incorporate the N-terminal and C-terminal domain (NTD and CTD), along with varying numbers of codon-optimized internal block repeats...
March 21, 2024: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38402729/the-functional-microclimate-of-an-urban-arthropod-pest-urban-heat-island-temperatures-in-webs-of-the-western-black-widow-spider
#2
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Ryan C Clark, J Chadwick Johnson
Urbanization alters natural landscapes and creates unique challenges for urban wildlife. Similarly, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect can produce significantly elevated temperatures in urban areas, and we have a relatively poor understanding of how this will impact urban biodiversity. In particular, most studies quantify the UHI using broad-scale climate data rather than assessing microclimate temperatures actually experienced by organisms. In addition, studies often fail to address spatial and temporal complexities of the UHI...
February 22, 2024: Journal of Thermal Biology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38346629/first-winter-record-of-latrodectus-mirabilis-araneae-theridiidae-in-arid-patagonia-a-consequence-of-climate-change-and-urbanization
#3
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Facundo Tomas Zaffaroni, Alejandra Esther Sandoval, Gerardo Aníbal Marti, Germán Horacio Cheli
Cases of araneism reported in the province of Chubut (Argentina) have tripled in the last two decades, and almost 80 % of them involve Latrodectus mirabilis (Holmberg) (Araneae: Theridiidae). According to descriptions of the life cycle of this species in Argentina, the low temperatures typical of autumn-winter cause the death of all adult spiders, so that no adult specimens of L. mirabilis are observed in winter. Field samplings, observations by the Grupo de Entomología Patagónica (GENTPAT, IPEEC CCT CENPAT CONICET), and citizen reports for more than 15 years suggested a similar cycle in northeastern Patagonia...
February 10, 2024: Acta Tropica
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38315982/proline-tyrosine-ring-interactions-in-black-widow-dragline-silk-revealed-by-solid-state-nuclear-magnetic-resonance-and-molecular-dynamics-simulations
#4
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Kevin Chalek, Ashana Soni, Christian D Lorenz, Gregory P Holland
Selective one-dimensional 13 C-13 C spin-diffusion solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) provides evidence for CH/π ring packing interactions between Pro and Tyr residues in 13 C-enriched Latrodectus hesperus dragline silk. The secondary structure of Pro-containing motifs in dragline spider silks consistently points to an elastin-like type II β-turn conformation based on 13 C chemical shift analysis. 13 C-13 C spin diffusion measurements as a function of mixing times allow for the measurement of spatial proximity between the Pro and Tyr rings to be ∼0...
February 5, 2024: Biomacromolecules
https://read.qxmd.com/read/38166617/latrodectus-envenomation-in-ethiopia
#5
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Shimelis Korbu, Mosisa Olika, Getu Alemayehu
Black widows, one of the few spiders that can sting humans with poison, are members of the spider genus Latrodectus and are well-known for the extraordinary potency of their neurotoxic venom. Latrodectism, a symptom marked by excruciating muscular pain, stomach pain, and diaphoresis after envenomation, is very typical. We described a black widow envenomation case that produced a significant reaction, including diaphoresis and excruciating pain throughout the left thigh that later spread to the lower leg, lower back, belly, and chest...
January 2, 2024: International Journal of Emergency Medicine
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37988307/what-s-eating-you-noble-false-widow-spider-steatoda-nobilis
#6
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Amy G Johnson, Bethany R Rohr
Noble false widow spider (Steatoda nobilis) bites have been documented to cause symptoms ranging from pain and pruritus to systemic bacterial infection resulting in death. This species is found in a broad range of environments, often alongside human activity, and the spiders most often bite defensively when disturbed or when the body is compressed. Due to the rapid expansion of noble false widow spiders and their relatively recent emergence in the United States, it is important for dermatologists to be aware of how to manage their bites...
October 2023: Cutis; Cutaneous Medicine for the Practitioner
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37891331/non-targeted-metabolomics-aids-in-sex-pheromone-identification-a-proof-of-concept-study-with-the-triangulate-cobweb-spider-steatoda-triangulosa
#7
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Andreas Fischer, Andrea C Roman-Torres, Jane Vurdela, Yerin Lee, Nastaran Bahar, Regine Gries, Santosh Alamsetti, Hongwen Chen, Gerhard Gries
Targeted metabolomics has been widely used in pheromone research but may miss pheromone components in study organisms that produce pheromones in trace amount and/or lack bio-detectors (e.g., antennae) to readily locate them in complex samples. Here, we used non-targeted metabolomics-together with high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), gas chromatography-MS, and behavioral bioassays-to unravel the sex pheromone of the triangulate cobweb spider, Steatoda triangulosa. A ternary blend of three contact pheromone components [N-4-methylvaleroyl-O-isobutyroyl-L-serine (5), N-3-methylbutyryl-O-isobutyroyl-L-serine (11), and N-3-methylbutyryl-O-butyroyl-L-serine (12)] elicited courtship by S...
October 27, 2023: Scientific Reports
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37821674/widow-spiders-alter-web-architecture-and-attractiveness-in-response-to-same-sex-competition-for-prey-and-mates-and-predation-risk
#8
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Andreas Fischer, Yasasi Fernando, April Preston, Sarah Moniz-de-Sa, Gerhard Gries
Female-female competition in animals has rarely been studied. Responses of females that compete context-dependently for mates and prey, and seek safety from predators, are ideally studied with web-building spiders. Cobwebs possess unique sections for prey capture and safety, which can be quantified. We worked with Steaoda grossa females because their pheromone is known, and adjustments in response to mate competition could be measured. Females exposed to synthetic sex pheromone adjusted their webs, indicating a perception of intra-sexual competition via their sex pheromone...
October 11, 2023: Communications Biology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37377825/reversible-myocarditis-following-black-widow-spider-latrodectus-spp-bite-in-egypt-a-case-report
#9
Ahmed G Emara, AbdelRhman A Aboshady, Omar A Aboshady, Mohamed M Shawqi
Black widow spiders (BWSs) are poisonous spiders of the Arthropoda phylum that live in the Mediterranean region. The effects of BWS bites ranges from local damage to systemic manifestations including paresthesia, stiffness, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, anxiety, hypertension and tachycardia. However, cardiac involvement following a BWS bite is uncommon. We report a 35-year-old male patient who presented to a tertiary hospital in Menoufia, Egypt, in 2019 and developed acute pulmonary oedema with electrocardiogram (ECG) changes that showed ST elevation in leads I and aVL with reciprocal ST segment depression in infero-lateral leads with elevated cardiac biomarkers...
May 2023: Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37339734/a-binary-pulsar-in-a-53-minute-orbit
#10
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Z Pan, J G Lu, P Jiang, J L Han, H-L Chen, Z W Han, K Liu, L Qian, R X Xu, B Zhang, J T Luo, Z Yan, Z L Yang, D J Zhou, P F Wang, C Wang, M H Li, M Zhu
Spider pulsars are neutron stars that have a companion star in a close orbit. The companion star sheds material to the neutron star, spinning it up to millisecond rotation periods, while the orbit shortens to hours. The companion is eventually ablated and destroyed by the pulsar wind and radiation1,2 . They are key for studying the evolutionary link between accreting X-ray pulsars and isolated millisecond pulsars, pulsar irradiation effects, and the birth of massive neutron stars3-6 . Black widow pulsars in extremely compact orbits (as short as 62 minutes7 ) have companions with masses ≪ 0...
June 20, 2023: Nature
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37160461/invasive-brown-widow-spiders-avoid-parasitism-despite-high-densities
#11
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Monica A Mowery, Valeria Arabesky, Tamir Rozenberg, Yael Lubin, Michal Segoli
Invasive species are sometimes less susceptible to natural enemies compared to native species, but the mechanism is often unclear. Here we tested two potential mechanisms for lower parasitism of invasive species: density-dependent parasitism and preference for human-dominated habitats. We investigated how variation in host density and habitat type affect egg sac parasitism in two widow spider species (family Theridiidae). We compared parasitism on the egg sac of the brown widow, Latrodectus geometricus, an urban invasive species, and the white widow, Latrodectus pallidus, a species native to Israel...
May 9, 2023: Oecologia
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37105609/venom-hypersensitivity
#12
REVIEW
J Lane Wilson, Bridgid Wilson
Stinging insects are a frequent cause of local and systemic hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis. For those with a history of life-threatening anaphylaxis, venom immunotherapy is effective, safe, and can be life-saving. Arachnids are a much less common source of envenomation through bites or stings and are less likely to cause a hypersensitivity reaction. However, recognizing the clinical manifestations when they do present is important for accurate diagnosis and treatment, and, when indicated, consideration of other diagnoses...
June 2023: Primary Care
https://read.qxmd.com/read/37096051/neutron-star-mass-estimates-from-gamma-ray-eclipses-in-spider-millisecond-pulsar-binaries
#13
JOURNAL ARTICLE
C J Clark, M Kerr, E D Barr, B Bhattacharyya, R P Breton, P Bruel, F Camilo, W Chen, I Cognard, H T Cromartie, J Deneva, V S Dhillon, L Guillemot, M R Kennedy, M Kramer, A G Lyne, D Mata Sánchez, L Nieder, C Phillips, S M Ransom, P S Ray, M S E Roberts, J Roy, D A Smith, R Spiewak, B W Stappers, S Tabassum, G Theureau, G Voisin
Reliable neutron star mass measurements are key to determining the equation of state of cold nuclear matter, but such measurements are rare. Black widows and redbacks are compact binaries consisting of millisecond pulsars and semi-degenerate companion stars. Spectroscopy of the optically bright companions can determine their radial velocities, providing inclination-dependent pulsar mass estimates. Although inclinations can be inferred from subtle features in optical light curves, such estimates may be systematically biased due to incomplete heating models and poorly understood variability...
2023: Nature Astronomy
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36727725/web-vibrations-in-intraspecific-contests-of-female-black-widow-spiders-latrodectus-hesperus
#14
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Rodrigo Krugner, Crystal Espindola, Nathan Justus, Ross L Hatton
Female black widow spiders, Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin and Ivie (Araneae: Theridiidae), are solitary predators of arthropods with no tolerance for intruders on the webs. In California, L. hesperus are found in urban and agricultural settings and can be a phytosanitary pest in fresh produce. Spatial separation of L. hesperus webs could be determined by seasonal population densities, with territorial competition expected under high densities in the environment. However, little is known about female-female communication behaviors in this species...
February 2, 2023: Environmental Entomology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36509355/injected-serotonin-decreases-foraging-aggression-in-black-widow-spiders-latrodectus-hesperus-but-dopamine-has-no-effect
#15
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Hannes A Schraft, Chasity Bilbrey, Matt Olenski, Nicholas DiRienzo, Pierre-Olivier Montiglio, Anna Dornhaus
A fundamental goal of animal behavior research is to discover the proximate mechanisms driving individual behavioral differences. Biogenic amines are known to mediate various aspects of behavior across many species, including aggression, one of the most commonly measured behavioral traits in animals. Arthropods provide an excellent system to manipulate biogenic amines and quantify subsequent behavioral changes. Here, we investigated the role of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) on foraging aggression in western black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus), as measured by the number of attacks on a simulated prey animal in the web...
December 9, 2022: Behavioural Processes
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36421495/improved-black-widow-spider-optimization-algorithm-integrating-multiple-strategies
#16
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Chenxin Wan, Bitao He, Yuancheng Fan, Wei Tan, Tao Qin, Jing Yang
The black widow spider optimization algorithm (BWOA) had the problems of slow convergence speed and easily to falling into local optimum mode. To address these problems, this paper proposes a multi-strategy black widow spider optimization algorithm (IBWOA). First, Gauss chaotic mapping is introduced to initialize the population to ensure the diversity of the algorithm at the initial stage. Then, the sine cosine strategy is introduced to perturb the individuals during iteration to improve the global search ability of the algorithm...
November 11, 2022: Entropy
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36342510/relating-spidroin-motif-prevalence-and-periodicity-to-the-mechanical-properties-of-major-ampullate-spider-silks
#17
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Joseph Arguelles, Richard H Baker, Jose Perez-Rigueiro, Gustavo V Guinea, M Elices, Cheryl Y Hayashi
Spider dragline fibers exhibit incredible mechanical properties, outperforming many synthetic polymers in toughness assays, and possess desirable properties for medical and other human applications. These qualities make dragline fibers popular subjects for biomimetics research. The enormous diversity of spiders presents both an opportunity for the development of new bioinspired materials and a challenge for the identification of fundamental design principles, as the mechanical properties of dragline fibers show both intraspecific and interspecific variations...
November 7, 2022: Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36310293/origin-structure-and-functional-transition-of-sex-pheromone-components-in-a-false-widow-spider
#18
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Andreas Fischer, Regine Gries, Santosh K Alamsetti, Emmanuel Hung, Andrea C Roman Torres, Yasasi Fernando, Sanam Meraj, Weiwu Ren, Robert Britton, Gerhard Gries
Female web-building spiders disseminate pheromone from their webs that attracts mate-seeking males and deposit contact pheromone on their webs that induces courtship by males upon arrival. The source of contact and mate attractant pheromone components, and the potential ability of females to adjust their web's attractiveness, have remained elusive. Here, we report three new contact pheromone components produced by female false black widow spiders, Steatoda grossa: N-4-methylvaleroyl-O-butyroyl-L-serine, N-4-methylvaleroyl-O-isobutyroyl-L-serine and N-4-methylvaleroyl-O-hexanoyl-L-serine...
October 30, 2022: Communications Biology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36307847/realized-niche-shift-of-an-invasive-widow-spider-drivers-and-impacts-of-human-activities
#19
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Zhenhua Luo, Monica A Mowery, Xinlan Cheng, Qing Yang, Junhua Hu, Maydianne C B Andrade
BACKGROUND: Predicting invasiveness requires an understanding of the propensity of a given species to thrive in areas with novel ecological challenges. Evaluation of realized niche shift of an invasive species in its invasive range, detecting the main drivers of the realized niche shift, and predicting the potential distribution of the species can provide important information for the management of populations of invasive species and the conservation of biodiversity. The Australian redback spider, Latrodectus hasselti, is a widow spider that is native to Australia and established in Japan, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia...
October 28, 2022: Frontiers in Zoology
https://read.qxmd.com/read/36277837/preying-dangerously-black-widow-spider-venom-resistance-in-sympatric-lizards
#20
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Vicki L Thill, Haley A Moniz, Mike B Teglas, McKenzie J Wasley, Chris R Feldman
Lizards and spiders are natural adversaries, yet little is known of adaptations that lizards might possess for dealing with the venomous defences of spider prey. In the Western USA, two lizard species ( Elgaria multicarinata and Sceloporus occidentalis ) are sympatric with and predate western black widow spiders ( Latrodectus hesperus ). The consequences of black widow spider venom (BWSV) can be severe, and are well understood for mammals but unknown for reptiles. We evaluated potential resistance to BWSV in the lizards that consume black widows, and a potentially susceptible species ( Uta stansburiana ) known as prey of widows...
October 2022: Royal Society Open Science
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