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posted by martyb on Thursday July 09 2020, @01:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-radioactive-bites-required dept.

Spider silk made by photosynthetic bacteria:

The CSRS team focused on the marine photosynthetic bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum. This bacterium is ideal for establishing a sustainable bio-factory because it grows in seawater, requires carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the atmosphere, and uses solar energy, all of which are abundant and inexhaustible.

The researchers genetically engineered the bacterium to produce MaSp1 protein, the main component of the Nephila spider dragline which is thought to play an important role in the strength of the spider silk. Optimization of the gene sequence that they inserted into the bacterium's genome was able to maximize the amount of silk that could be produced. They also found that a simple recipe—artificial seawater, bicarbonate salt, nitrogen gas, yeast extract, and irradiation with near-infrared light—allows R. sulfidophilum to grow well and produce the silk protein efficiently. Further observations confirmed that the surface and internal structures of the fibers produced in the bacteria were very similar to those produced naturally by spiders.

Journal Reference:
Choon Pin Foong, Mieko Higuchi-Takeuchi, Ali D. Malay, et al. A marine photosynthetic microbial cell factory as a platform for spider silk production [open], Communications Biology (DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-1099-6)

Previous attempts to manufacture spider silk involved genetically engineering goats to produce it in their milk.


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  • (Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Thursday July 09 2020, @06:37AM (2 children)

    by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 09 2020, @06:37AM (#1018568)

    That goo has lotsa energy in it so:
    1. whatever organism that produces it for no survival related purposes will need special care to survive. Get it out in the open and it won't survive competition while still continuing to produce silk

    Good first point, but regarding the second....

    2. anything with lotsa energy in it is going to act as food for other organisms.

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  • (Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Thursday July 09 2020, @06:41AM (1 child)

    by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 09 2020, @06:41AM (#1018569)

    (Ah, submitted instead of previewed)
    ...or the bacterial organism may find itself using colonies and biofilm-like structures, that in combination with spider silk, entrap other organisms so the bacteria can feed off their bicarbonate stores.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Thursday July 09 2020, @07:01AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 09 2020, @07:01AM (#1018574) Journal

      The life of biofilm forming μorganisms is hard, they need a stable, steady surface to attach to or float on.
      It may work inside a stagnant pond, but I'm afraid they'll find the oceans a bit tough. Not even the more robust Sargassum [wikipedia.org] managed to form a compact colony.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford