Question

Spider silk is a material made of proteins that has a strength per gram that is five times that of steel. One feature of some of the toughest spider silks is a high proportion of β sheets that stack tightly together to form crystal-like arrays. Which amino acids would you expect to be common in such crystalline stacks and why?

Answer 1

glutamic acid, because the R group could form ionic bonds

arginine, because the R group could form ionic bonds

tryptophan and tyrosine, because the R groups are small, allowing close stacking

glycine and alanine, because the R groups are small, allowing close stacking