Microstructural homogeneity of support silk spun by Eriophora fuliginea (C.L. Koch) determined by scanning X-ray microdiffraction.

Scanning X-ray microdiffraction (SXD) permits the 'imaging' in-situ of crystalline phases, crystallinity and texture in whole biopolymer samples on the micrometre scale. SXD complements transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, which reach sub-nanometre lateral resolution but require thin sections and a vacuum environment. This is demonstrated using a support thread from a web spun by the orb-weaving spider Eriophora fuliginea (C.L. Koch). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows a central thread composed of two fibres to which thinner fibres are loosely attached. SXD of a piece of support thread approximately 60 microns long shows in addition the presence of nanometre-sized crystallites with the beta-poly(L-alanine) structure in all fibres. The crystallinity of the thin fibres appears to be higher than that of the central thread, which probably reflects a higher polyalanine content of the fibroins. The molecular axis of the polymer chains in the central thread is orientated parallel to the macroscopic fibre axis, but in the thin fibres the molecular axis is tilted by about 71 degrees to the macroscopic fibre axis. A helical model is tentatively proposed to describe this morphology. The central thread has a homogeneous distribution of crystallinity along the macroscopic fibre axis.