Mussel thread production (VIDEO)
Caption
In the first part of the video, you see a marine mussel producing the byssal threads and glue plaques it uses to anchor itself to rocks and other mussels in the intertidal zones where it lives. The second part of the video uses a micro-CT scan (akin to the CT-scans people get at hospitals) to look inside the mussel foot, the specialized organ which produces the glue. In green you can see the region where the proteins for the glue are produced and stored and in blue you can see the channels which transport these proteins to the tip of the mussel foot where they mix with metal ions to form the glue.
Credit
Tobias Priemel
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Original content