UV-resistivity of spider silk

Fig. 1 Spider web exposed to sunshine


Fig. 2　Comparison of UV resistance of spider and silkworm silk

UV irradiation cleaves chemical bonds and decomposes the silk chains into fragments. The effects of UV irradiation on spider silk were studied from the viewpoint of the quantity of silk proteins. The ratio of the uncleaved quantity to the initial quantity for the spider silk and silkworm silk was measured by SDS PAGE, and was plotted as a function of the UV irradiation time. The silkworm silk decomposes more easily than the spider silk. The result indicates that Nephila clavata spider dragline was 1.7 times more resistant to UV irradiation than silkworm silk.

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