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Materials

Periodic Graphics

Periodic Graphics: How do mussels stick to rocks?

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning describes how mussels glue themselves to underwater surfaces.

by Andy Brunning, special to C&EN
March 19, 2025 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 103, Issue 8
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An infographic that describes how marine organisms produce glues that stick to surfaces underwater. The graphic provides examples of marine organism glues and exp/lains how mussels’ bioadhesive works on a chemical level.

Test your knowledge of bioadhesives with our quiz

To download a pdf of this article, visit cenm.ag/musselsadhesives.

References used to create this graphic:

Everts, Sarah. “One Mystery of How Mussels Stick to Rocks, Boats Solved.” Chemical & Engineering News, Aug. 6, 2015.

Jee, Samantha, and Matthew J. Harrington. “Formation and Function of Metal Coordination Cross-Linking in Mytilus Mussel Byssus.” Chap. 7 in Metals and Their Functional Role in the Structures of Invertebrates, edited by Matthew S. Lehnert. Springer, 2024. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-68486-9_7.

Patel, Prachi. “Mussel Adhesives Rely on a Pinch of Vanadium.” Chemical & Engineering News, Oct. 8, 2021.

Priemel, Tobias, Gurveer Palia, Frank Förste, Franziska Jehle, Sanja Sviben, Ioanna Mantouvalou, Paul Zaslansky, Luca Bertinetti, and Matthew J. Harrington. “Microfluidic-Like Fabrication of Metal Ion–Cured Bioadhesives by Mussels.” Science (Oct. 2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abi9702.

Shin, Mincheol, Ji Yeon Shin, Kyeounghak Kim, Byeongseon Yang, Jeong Woo Han, Nak-Kyoon Kim, and Hyung Joon Cha. “The Position of Lysine Controls the Catechol-Mediated Surface Adhesion and Cohesion in Underwater Mussel Adhesion.” J. Colloid Interface Sci. (March 2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.12.082.

Torrice, Michael. “Mussel Glues Rely on Cation-Aromatic Attraction.” Chemical & Engineering News, Feb. 15, 2017.

A collaboration between C&EN and Andy Brunning, author of the popular graphics blog Compound Interest

To see more of Brunning’s work, go to compoundchem.com. To see all of C&EN’s Periodic Graphics, visit cenm.ag/periodicgraphics.

 

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