2018/08/06 by Jun Xu, Qinglin Dong, Ye Yu +6 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Immunology and Microbiology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Silk-based biomaterials and applications #Invertebrate Immune Response Mechanisms #Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in Insects
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1806805115
openalex publication_date 2018/08/06 · openalex created_date 2018/08/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Significance The use of heterologous systems to express spider silk has become an attractive method. However, achieving cost-effective production and high yields is still challenging. Here, we describe the establishment of a targeted gene replacement system in Bombyx mori to express the major ampullate spidroin-1 gene ( MaSp1 ) from the spider Nephila clavipes . With the aid of transcription activator-like effector nuclease-mediated homology-directed repair, we genetically replaced the silkworm fibroin heavy chain gene with MaSp1 with considerable transformation efficiency, and the chimeric MaSp1 yields reached up to 35.2% wt/wt of cocoon shells in transformed silkworms. The genetically modified silk fiber had significant changes in mechanical properties, with improved extensibility. This system will shed light on the future mass production of new biomaterials, including spider silk.