Session D40 - Poster Session I.
POSTER session, Monday afternoon, March 12
Exhibit Hall, Washington State Convention Center
Crystallization study on a novel model silk peptide has been carried out using optical microscopy, AFM, TEM and electron diffraction. The sequence of the peptide, (E)5(GDVGGAGATGGS)2(E)5, is based on the GXYGGZ motif in the less repetitive amorphous blocks of Nephila clavipes spider dragline silk. When the peptide was crystallized out of aqueous solution, spherulites as well as dendritic crystals on the order of several to tens of microns in diameter were observed under polarizing optical microscope, depending on drying speed, volume of the droplet and concentration. The same crystals were collected and sonicated in methanol, a non-solvent, to yield individual crystals that were later examined in the electron microscope. Regular-shaped lamellar crystals of micron size were observed in the TEM. The lamellar thickness as determined by Pt/Pd shadowing and AFM is ~50 Å. Selected area electron diffraction showed single crystal diffraction patterns indicating a possible orthorhombic unit cell of 9.91 x 5.57 x 20.40 Å.