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Diversity of Protists IV01:27

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Unravelling hagfish slime.

Gaurav Chaudhary1, Randy H Ewoldt1, Jean-Luc Thiffeault2

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Hagfish slime threads rapidly uncoil using viscous hydrodynamics, not just chemistry. This rapid unravelling, aided by predator interaction, occurs within milliseconds, offering insights for bioinspired materials.

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Area of Science:

  • Biomaterials Science
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Hagfish slime is a unique defense mechanism composed of fibrous threads.
  • These threads are released in coiled skeins and must rapidly unravel to deter predators.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that viscous hydrodynamics, rather than solely chemical kinetics, drives rapid thread unravelling.
  • To model the unravelling process and identify key physical parameters governing its speed.

Main Methods:

  • Modeling a single hagfish slime skein unspooling as a fiber peeling away due to viscous drag.
  • Simplified analysis of physiologically relevant flows, including uniform and extensional flows.
  • Incorporating a power-law model for peeling resistance dependent on velocity.

Main Results:

  • Viscous drag alone can cause skein unravelling within milliseconds under physiological conditions.
  • Unravelling is accelerated when the skein is pinned against a surface, simulating predator interaction.
  • A dimensionless ratio of viscous drag to peeling resistance determines the unravelling timescale.

Conclusions:

  • Viscous hydrodynamics is a significant factor in the rapid unravelling of hagfish slime threads.
  • The unravelling mechanism provides insights into slime formation and has implications for engineering bioinspired materials.
  • Further experimental measurements of peel strength will refine the model and its applications.