The byssus of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha. I: Morphology and in situ protein processing during maturation

The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, owes its notoriety as a biofouler to its adhesive skills and opportunism. Adhesion by the adult mussel to hard substrata is mediated by a nonliving extracorporeal structure called the byssus, which is superficially similar to the byssus of marine mussels in that it consists of a tight bundle of sclerotized threads tipped by adhesive plaques. Juvenile zebra mussels secrete a homologous structure on settlement, but they also employ an elongated belaying byssus while climbing that consists of an elastic, mucous filament anchored at irregular intervals by a byssal thread and plaque. This multiply anchored belaying line can be 20 to 30 times the mussel length. Histochemical tests show that the thread and plaque of both kinds of byssus contains a complex distribution of proteins that are subject to chemical processing after secretion. This processing may result from the formation of crosslinks following the catecholoxidase-catalyzed oxidation of peptidyl 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine during sclerotization.