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Physical properties of honeybee silk: a review

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Abstract

Honeybee silk is released from secretory cells and polymerises as birefringent tactoids in the lumen while silk is spun by a spinneret at the tip of the labium–hypopharynx and contains ά-helical proteins arranged in a four-strand coiled-coil structure. Wet fibres are only half as stiff as dried ones, but are equal in strength. The fibroin is hygroscopic and lithium thiocyanate and urea eliminate the yield point tested on both dry and wet fibres. The slopes of the solvent-related curves are reduced compared to those tested in water. Silk sheets are independent of temperature when deformed in tension. This fibre is rather crystalline and its hydration sensitivity, expressed as the ratio of the elastic modulus of wet to that of dry fibre, is 0.53. The ά-helical fibroins are predicted to have an antiparallel tetrameric configuration that is shown as a possible structural model. The molecular structure of ά-helical proteins maximizes their robustness with minimal use of building materials. In conclusion, it appears that the composition, molecular topology and amino acid content and sequence are a highly conserved feature in the evolution of silk in Apis species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tara Sutherland for kind permission to use some of her previously published figures and to TS, Colleen Hepburn and Catherine Sole for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. We acknowledge permission from John Wiley and Sons to use published figures from Sutherland et al. (2011b).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    H. Randall Hepburn

  2. Ratchaburi Campus, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand

    Orawan Duangphakdee

  3. Social Insect Research Group, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Christian W. W. Pirk

Authors
  1. H. Randall Hepburn
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  2. Orawan Duangphakdee
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  3. Christian W. W. Pirk
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Correspondence to Christian W. W. Pirk.

Additional information

Manuscript editor: Peter Rosenkranz

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Hepburn, H.R., Duangphakdee, O. & Pirk, C.W.W. Physical properties of honeybee silk: a review. Apidologie 44, 600–610 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0209-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0209-6

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