These groups of insects have evolved silks that are very tough and stable in comparison to the classical sheet silks and it is probable that the evolution of this remarkable material has underpinned the success of the social Hymenoptera.
Coiled coil silks are common in aculeate social insects i.e. those that have stings but not in aculeate parasitic wasps. These social insects are higher up the evolutionary tree and the coiled coil silks appear to have evolved about 155 million years ago.
The silk research is part of the joint CSIRO and Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) Crop Biofactories Initiative (CBI).
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
marketing@alchempro.com
