Scientists have discovered how bloodworms make their unique copper teeth


Date:
April 25, 2022
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
Bloodworms are known for their unusual fang-like jaws, which are
made of protein, melanin, and concentrations of copper not found
elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Scientists have observed how these
worms use copper harvested from marine sediments to form their jaws,
and the process may be even more unusual than the teeth themselves.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Bloodworms are known for their unusual fang-like jaws, which are made
of protein, melanin, and concentrations of copper not found elsewhere in
the animal kingdom. Scientists have observed how these worms use copper harvested from marine sediments to form their jaws, and the process,
described in research publishing in the journal Matteron April 25,
may be even more unusual than the teeth themselves.


========================================================================== Because the worms only form their jaws once, they need to be strong
and tough enough to last the entirety of the animal's five-year
lifespan. They use them to bite prey, sometimes puncturing straight
through an exoskeleton, and inject venom that paralyzes victims.

"These are very disagreeable worms in that they are ill tempered and
easily provoked," says co-author Herbert Waite, a biochemist at University
of California, Santa Barbara. "When they encounter another worm, they
usually fight using their copper jaws as weapons." Waite's lab has been studying bloodworms for 20 years, but it was only recently that they were
able to observe the chemical process that forms a jaw-like material from
start to finish. The worm begins with a protein precursor, which recruits copper to concentrate itself into a viscous, protein-rich liquid that is
high in copper and phase-separates from water.The protein then uses the
copper to catalyze the conversion of the amino acid derivative DOPA into melanin, a polymer that, combined with protein, gives the jaw mechanical properties that resemble manufactured metals.

Through this process, the worm is able to easily synthesize a material
that, if created in a lab, would be a complicated process involving many different apparatuses, solvents, and temperatures. "We never expected
protein with such a simple composition, that is, mostly glycine and
histidine, to perform this many functions and unrelated activities,"
says Waite.

The team hopes that a better understanding of how the bloodworm conducts
its self-contained processing laboratory could help to streamline parts
of production that would benefit industry. "These materials could be road
signs for how to make and engineer better consumer materials," says Waite.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cell_Press. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. William R. Wonderly, Tuan T.D. Nguyen, Katerina G. Malollari, Daniel
DeMartini, Peyman Delparastan, Eric Valois, Phillip B. Messersmith,
Matthew E. Helgeson, J. Herbert Waite. A multi-tasking polypeptide
from bloodworm jaws: Catalyst, template, and copolymer in film
formation.

Matter, 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.04.001 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425121104.htm

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