The chemical structure and the crystalline structures of Bombyx mori silk fibroin

Some recent data (i.e. published in the last ten years) on the chemical and crystalline structures of B. mori silk are reviewed. The main emphasis is put on the crystallizable portion of silk fibroin, including its chemical constitution and its molecular conformation (at the crystallographic unit-cell level) in the two crystalline modifications : the beta pleated sheet and the silk I structures. The structural aspects are based on a discussion of X-ray and electron diffraction data, and on conformational energy analyses of a model (Ala-Gly)n polypeptide of silk fibroin.