Adhesive properties and sacrificial bonds in gastroliths of red-clawlobster measured by colloidal probe atomic force microscopy

• The adhesive properties of gastroliths of red claw lobsters (Cherax quadricarinatus) have been quantified using colloidal probe atomic force microscopy. Sequential detachment and large adhesion energies where observed between native gastrolith substrates and colloidal probes consisting of microparticles of heavily demineralized gastrolith that consists primarily of chitin and calcium carbonate hemispheres. The sequential detachment behavior was absent when the soluble proteins have been removed from gastrolith substrates and the adhesive energy is reduced by more than two orders of magnitude. The sacrificial bonds that provide the large adhesion energies were inferred to multifunctional gastrolith proteins that are able to bind to both chitin and calcium carbonate.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

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