COHESION IN MEFP-1: AN ADHESIVE PROTEIN FROM THE BLUE MUSSEL MYTILUS EDULIS

摘要

Marine mussels , such as Mytilus edulis, have selected a rather turbulent environment to inhabit. Living in the intertidal zone means they must bear the constant pounding of the waves and the pulls generated by the tides. Their endurance in the intertidal zone is facilitated by the formation of the byssus.The byssus is a filamentous structure which adheres to available hard and wet surfaces along the shore, and attaches the mussels to these substrates with a quickly formed, durable, and resistant bond. The byssal threads are a composite structure which has many characteristics that make it a good attachment interface; the proximal portion of the thread is elastic which gives it a "shock absorbing" quality, distally the thread is more rigid conferring tensile strength and, the thread ends in a plaque which adheres to the substrate. The whole thread is covered in a quinone tanned varnish that retards facile degradation in its aquatic environment.