Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,768 studies31 sourcesUpdated 47 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics

Genomics and CT imaging reveal diversity in silk genes and gland morphology of webspinners

  • Amanda Markee1,2
  • Lillian J Buck3
  • Daniel D Davis4
  • Janice S Edgerly5
  • Edward L Stanley6
  • Jessica L Ware1
  • Akito Y Kawahara6
  • Ashlyn Powell3
  • Cheryl Y Hayashi1
  • Richard H Baker1
  • Paul B Frandsen4
6 affiliations
  1. 1Division of Invertebrate Zoology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History , New York, NY 10024 ,
  2. 2Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History , New York, NY 10024 ,
  3. 3Department of Biology, Brigham Young University , Provo, UT 84602 ,
  4. 4Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences and Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University , Provo, UT 84602 ,
  5. 5Department of Biology, Santa Clara University , Santa Clara, CA 95053 ,
  6. 6Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL 32611 ,
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) are an unusual insect order that are known for their subsocial behavior and prolific silk-production. Due to their unique foreleg silk glands, and spider-like ability to produce silk throughout their entire life cycle, webspinners are hypothesized to have evolved silk independently from other arthropod lineages. To date, there are no high-quality contig-level genome assemblies available for the order, preventing the study of their silk gene origination and diversification. Here, we assembled PacBio HiFi contig-level genomes and characterized the silk genes present in two webspinner species, Aposthonia ceylonica and Oligotoma nigra. The genomes reveal multiple full-length copies of the primary Embioptera silk gene, e-fibroin, that have undergone both ancestral and recent gene duplications within the group. For both species, all e-fibroin paralogs show the presence of complex repeat units consisting of multiple exons and introns that are remarkably homogenized across each gene. We also used µCT-scanning of the internal silk glands to provide details concerning the localization of silk production in foreleg tarsi, and interspecific morphology.

Related

  1. From Coprecipitation to Nanostructure: Formation, Morphology, and Reactive-Site Accessibility in Fe-Containing Binary Layered Double Hydroxides
    Alua Alikeyeva, Nurbolat Kudaibergenov, Kairzhan Shalmagambetov +1
    Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersEurope PMC
  2. Defocusing-Controlled Morphology and Electrochemical Performance of Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes for Microsupercapacitors
    Seon Jong Yu, Da Hwan Yu, Mun Jeong Choi +4
    PolymersPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textMaterials & polymersEurope PMC
  3. Gold deposition on surfaces using small organic molecules: effects of preparation conditions on morphology and Raman response
    Elif Kaya, Ali Dadvar, Haipeng Li +8
    ChemRxivPreprintLicence not statedGeneral chemistryChemRxiv
  4. Ab initio modeling of morphology with experimental comparison in a nanoscale heterostructure
    Sreejith Pallikkara Chandrasekharan, Sofia Apergi, Chen Wei +6
    Physical Review MaterialsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Full textPhysical chemistryCondensed matterHAL
  5. Linking Three-Dimensional Morphology to Piezoelectric Response in P(VDF-TrFE)
    Christine Revenant, Simon Toinet, Joseph Faudou +4
    MacromoleculesPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textMaterials & polymersCondensed matterHAL

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{markee2026genomics,
  title = {{Genomics and CT imaging reveal diversity in silk genes and gland morphology of webspinners}},
  author = {Amanda Markee and Lillian J Buck and Daniel D Davis and Janice S Edgerly and Edward L Stanley and Jessica L Ware and Akito Y Kawahara and Ashlyn Powell and Cheryl Y Hayashi and Richard H Baker and Paul B Frandsen},
  journal = {G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/g3journal/jkag304},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/advance-article/doi/10.1093/g3journal/jkag304/9004078},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Genomics and CT imaging reveal diversity in silk genes and gland morphology of webspinners
AU  - Amanda Markee
AU  - Lillian J Buck
AU  - Daniel D Davis
AU  - Janice S Edgerly
AU  - Edward L Stanley
AU  - Jessica L Ware
AU  - Akito Y Kawahara
AU  - Ashlyn Powell
AU  - Cheryl Y Hayashi
AU  - Richard H Baker
AU  - Paul B Frandsen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/28
JO  - G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
DO  - 10.1093/g3journal/jkag304
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/advance-article/doi/10.1093/g3journal/jkag304/9004078
AB  - Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) are an unusual insect order that are known for their subsocial behavior and prolific silk-production. Due to their unique foreleg silk glands, and spider-like ability to produce silk throughout their entire life cycle, webspinners are hypothesized to have evolved silk independently from other arthropod lineages. To date, there are no high-quality contig-level genome assemblies available for the order, preventing the study of their silk gene origination and diversification. Here, we assembled PacBio HiFi contig-level genomes and characterized the silk genes present in two webspinner species, Aposthonia ceylonica and Oligotoma nigra. The genomes reveal multiple full-length copies of the primary Embioptera silk gene, e-fibroin, that have undergone both ancestral and recent gene duplications within the group. For both species, all e-fibroin paralogs show the presence of complex repeat units consisting of multiple exons and introns that are remarkably homogenized across each gene. We also used µCT-scanning of the internal silk glands to provide details concerning the localization of silk production in foreleg tarsi, and interspecific morphology.
SN  - 2160-1836
ER  -