The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. Received: ApAccepted: AugPublished: October 8, 2014Ĭopyright: © 2014 Jonker et al. Permyakov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Biological Instrumentation, Russian Federation

100 kDa) are more conserved within barnacles than others (20 kDa).Ĭitation: Jonker J-L, Abram F, Pires E, Varela Coelho A, Grunwald I, Power AM (2014) Adhesive Proteins of Stalked and Acorn Barnacles Display Homology with Low Sequence Similarities. The results indicate that some adhesive proteins (e.g. Homology aside, sequence similarity in amino acid and gene sequences tended to decline as taxonomic distance increased, with minimum similarities of 18–26%, depending on the gene. pollicipes possesses homologues for the 19 kDa and 100 kDa proteins in acorn barnacles. Sequence alignment of published expressed sequence tags clearly indicated that P. We also analysed the similarity of adhesive proteins across several barnacle taxa, including Pollicipes pollicipes (a stalked barnacle in the order Scalpelliformes). Antibodies against two acorn barnacle proteins (ab-cp-52k and ab-cp-68k) showed cross-reactivity in the adhesive glands of L. anatifera and closely-related Dosima fascicularis. None of the peptides matched published or unpublished transcriptome sequences, but some amino acid sequence similarity was apparent between L. Mass spectrometry for protein identification was followed by de novo sequencing which detected 52 peptides of 7–16 amino acids in length. Intense bands were present at approximately 30, 70, 90 and 110 kilodaltons (kDa). anatifera adhesive into at least 10 protein bands using SDS-PAGE. We add to extensive information from the acorn barnacles (order Sessilia) by providing the first protein analysis of a stalked barnacle adhesive, Lepas anatifera (order Lepadiformes). Examination of a broad range of species within the barnacles may be instructive to identify conserved adhesive domains. Once the tide flows back out, the plates close and contain the moisture until the tide cycle begins again.Barnacle adhesion underwater is an important phenomenon to understand for the prevention of biofouling and potential biotechnological innovations, yet so far, identifying what makes barnacle glue proteins ‘sticky’ has proved elusive. The creature will then open the plates (or the “trap door”), extend its cirri (feathery legs) and sweep the water for plankton and detritus. This hard shell is fitted to the adult barnacles with a convenient “trap door.” This door comes in handy as the tide moves in and water flows over the barnacle.

One of the most important survival strategies that the giant acorn barnacle utilize is the production of their limestone shell. Because of its strength, scientists are studying this substance to better understand its adhesive properties. In fact, the glue can not be dissolved by most acids or alkalis. Not fully convinced that such a small creature could have such a strong ability? Well, this brown glue holds the barnacle in place for so long that they are held there even after the barnacle has died. These invertebrates are able to glue their heads to a surface and remain there for the rest of their life. These incredible animals, one of more than 1,445 different species of barnacles, possess cement glands that release brown glue to secure them to any hard surface.

Acorn barnacle