Sarah Stellwagen

Sarah Stellwagen
University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte · Department of Biology

Ph.D. Biology

About

12
Publications
1,621
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116
Citations
Additional affiliations
September 2015 - September 2018
Army Research Laboratory
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (12)
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Facultative parthenogenesis and intra-population mixed ploidy are rare in animals. These unique characteristics allow opportunities to investigate the relationship between sexual modality and ploidy. We have completed a draft genome of the Japanese harvester ("daddy-longlegs") Leiobunum manubriatum, a species which reproduces sexually a...
Article
Synopsis Bioadhesives are wet or dry polymeric compounds that rely upon physical and chemical properties to generate characteristic sticky forces. The past decade has seen a rapidly evolving field of research around the functions, genetics, biochemistry, and mimetics of bioadhesives, but challenges unique to this research area continue to arise. We...
Article
Full-text available
Many species of spider use a modified silk adhesive, called aggregate glue, to aid in prey capture. Aggregate spidroins (spider fibroins) are modified members of the spider silk family, however they are not spun into fibers as are their solid silk relatives. The genes that encode for aggregate spidroins are the largest of the known spidroin genes a...
Article
We surveyed ground-surface spider populations in Kings Mountain National Military Park, Blacksburg, SC, monthly from August 2009 through July 2010 using pitfall traps to collect spiders at 2 sites in each of 3 forest habitat types: riparian zones, dry forest areas, and ridgetop habitats. Of the 902 adult spiders collected, we identified 848 to spec...
Article
Full-text available
An orb web’s prey capture thread relies on its glue droplets to retain insects until a spider can subdue them. Each droplet’s viscoelastic glycoprotein adhesive core extends to dissipate the forces of prey struggle as it transfers force to stiffer, support line flagelliform fibers. In large orb webs, switchback capture thread turns are placed at th...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Bacterial surface display libraries are a popular tool for novel ligand discovery due to their ease of manipulation and rapid growth rates. These libraries typically express a scaffold protein embedded within the outer membrane with a short, surface-exposed peptide that is either terminal or is incorporated into an outer loop, and can...
Article
Full-text available
An individual orb weaving spider can spin up to seven different types of silk, each with unique functions and material properties. The capture spiral silk of classic two-dimensional aerial orb webs is coated with an amorphous glue that functions to retain prey that get caught in a web. This unique modified silk is partially comprised of spidroins (...
Preprint
Full-text available
The aggregate gland glycoprotein glue coating the prey-capture threads of orb weaving and cobweb weaving spider webs is comprised of silk protein spidroins (spider fibroins) encoded by two members of the silk gene family. It functions to retain prey that make contact with the web, but differs from solid silk fibers as it is a viscoelastic, amorphic...
Article
Full-text available
We compared the effect of Ultraviolet A radiation on the adhesive droplets of the diurnal orb-web weaver Argiope trifasciata Forskaal, 1775 and the nocturnal orb-web weaver Neoscona crucifera (Lucas, 1838). We hypothesized that glycoprotein glue within A. trifasciata droplets will either be unaffected or will benefit from UVA exposure, whereas the...
Article
Full-text available
Many spider orb-webs are exposed to sunlight and the potentially damaging effects of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. We examined the effect of UVB on the viscoelastic glycoprotein core of glue droplets deposited on the prey capture threads of these webs, hypothesizing that webs built by species that occupy sunny habitats are less susceptible to UVB...
Article
Full-text available
Sticky viscous prey capture threads retain insects that strike araneoid orb-webs. The threads' two axial fibers support a series of glue droplets, each featuring a core of adhesive viscoelastic glycoprotein covered by an aqueous solution. After sticking, the glue extends, summing the adhesion of multiple droplets, and dissipates some of the energy...
Conference Paper
The purpose of this study is to gain baseline data of the epigeic spider (Araneae) species composition and assess their habitat distributions in Kings Mountain National Military Park (KMNMP) in the Piedmont of South Carolina. Environments in their natural state are a cache for biodiversity, and maintaining the quality of these areas plays a crucial...

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