Silk from Bees

Filed in archive Food and Agriculture , Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics on November 29, 2007

Did you know that, like moths, spiders butterflies and silkworms, bees also produce silk?

Those are the latest findings reported recently in Molecular Biology and Evolution, which discusses the honeybee silk genes and the properties of the coil proteins from the cocoon and nest silks they produce.

"Most people are unaware that bees and ants produce silk but they do and its molecular structure is very different to that of the large protein, sheet structure of moth and spider silk. The cocoon and nest silks we looked at consist of coiled coils - a protein structural arrangement where multiple helices wind around each other. This structure produces a light weight, very tough silk."

For more, listen to an interview with Dr Sutherland (mp3 file) as she talks about bee and ant silk and its incredible properties.