Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution

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  Image Credit: WikiCommons Big Spider, Big Genome: Chromosome-level genome of a North American tarantula (Aphonopelma marxi) and comparative genomics across 300 million years of spider evolution Abstract The comparison of chromosome-level genomes allows biologists to investigate new axes of organismal evolution. Spiders comprise a significant proportion of known arachnid diversity, with many complex morphologies and unique natural histories, yet comparative genomics in spiders has been limited due to the number of available genomes. We present a de novo chromosomal reference genome of a mature male tarantula, Aphonopelma marxi, and comparatively examine spider genome evolution across the Order Araneae. Using PacBio HiFi and Hi-C sequencing, the final 6.5 Gb assembly consists of 17 autosomes, 1 X chromosome, and 127 unplaced scaffolds, with an N50 of 370 Mb and Arachnida (odb10; 2934 genes) BUSCO of 96.7%. By comparing 20 additional spider genomes from 15 families, we find mygalomo...

A Biomimetic Stress Field Modulation Strategy Inspired by Scorpion Compound Slit Sensilla Enabled High-Accuracy and Low-Power Positioning Sensor for Identifying the Load Incident Angles

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A Biomimetic Stress Field Modulation Strategy Inspired by Scorpion Compound Slit Sensilla Enabled High-Accuracy and Low-Power Positioning Sensor for Identifying the Load Incident Angles

Abstract

Numerous arthropods evolve and optimize sensory systems, enabling them to effectively adapt complex and competitive habitats. Typically, scorpions can precisely perceive the prey location with the lowest metabolic rate among invertebrates. This biological phenomenon contrasts sharply with engineered systems, which generally associates high accuracy with substantial energy consumption. Inspired by the Scorpion Compound Slit Sensilla (SCSS) with a stress field modulation strategy, a bionic positioning sensor with superior precision and minimal power consumption is developed for the first time, which utilizes the particular Minimum Positioning Units (MPUs) to efficiently locate vibration signals. The single MPU of the SCSS can recognize the direction of collinear loads by regulating the stress field distribution and further, the coupling action of three MPUs can realize all-angle vibration monitoring in plane. Experiments demonstrate that the bionic positioning sensor achieves 1.43 degrees of angle-error-free accuracy without additional energy supply. As a proof of concept, two bionic positioning sensors and machine learning algorithm are integrated to provide centimeter (cm)-accuracy target localization, ideally suited for the man-machine interaction. The novel design offers a new mechanism for the design of traditional positioning devices, improving precision and efficiency in both the meta-universe and real-world Internet-connected systems.

Zhang, J., Chen, Y., Li, H. et al. A Biomimetic Stress Field Modulation Strategy Inspired by Scorpion Compound Slit Sensilla Enabled High-Accuracy and Low-Power Positioning Sensor for Identifying the Load Incident Angles. J Bionic Eng (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-025-00661-4