Bivalves are well known for their ability to produce pearls, but in addition, some of them can also create thin protein threads that have a visual resemblance to silk and are called bissus. It used to be used to make things out of what is known as “sea silk”.
It is noted that the composition of bissus varies greatly from species to species, but it is from marine species such as mussels that most of the information known to the scientific community about it. In a fresh publication in PNAS, scientists studied the filaments that are created by dreissena, an invasive freshwater dweller that is actively taking over lakes on the North American mainland.
In their work, the researchers used spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and proteomics to establish the chemistry and structure of the bilayers produced by dreissenes. Their findings revealed that the underlying protein is unique and consists predominantly of crystalline beta-sheets, which in turn are intrinsic to proteins in spider silk.
