| dc.description.abstract | Researchers are more attracted to mussels because of their magical
adhesive strength on the wet substratum. This peculiar character of
mussels is achieved by moisture resistant, biocompatible and
biodegradable polyphenolic proteins called mussel adhesive proteins or
mussel foot proteins (MAP or MFP). In mussels mainly six different
adhesive proteins (mfp-1 to mfp-6) are reported and they contain
unusual amino acid residues called 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine
(DOPA), which are mainly involved in adhesion. The understanding of
mussel adhesion exposes many opportunities in the area of science and
medicine. Even though, mussels are considered as worst participants of
biofouling, which make serious economic losses. They accumulated on
ship hulls, underwater pipes and industrial equipment which lead to
extensive damage. In India, two major species of mussel are present
namely, Perna perna and Perna viridis. The present study focused
on P. perna adhesive machinery, adhesive protein characterisation and
also the synthesis of slow-released fertilizer by using P. perna shell
and cow urine.
Strong adhesion of the mussel is achieved by involvement of two parts
called foot and byssus thread. The structural elucidation of mussel
adhesive machinery helps to develop new antifouling strategies. The
first chapter of this thesis deals with the structural elucidation of P.
perna foot and byssus thread. The byssus thread contains three regions
namely proximal thread, distal thread and plaque. The proximal and
distal threads are morphologically distinct, in which gradient distribution of proteins was shown, leading to indestructible strength.
Plaque is a leaf-like structure found attached to a substratum
containing major polyphenolic adhesive proteins with the differential
distribution. The polyphenolic protein staining of byssus thread using
NBT revealed that high concentration of DOPA-rich proteins found in
the adhesive region of plaque. Likewise, anatomically thread contains
two parts cuticle and a core region. The cuticle is a hard protective part
made up of mfp-1 and the core region contains collagens which
provide elasticity and extensibility.
The byssus thread's incredible
thermal stability was exhibited by TGA analysis and secondary
structure analysis using FTIR showed the byssus thread's strength. The
elemental composition analysis indicates that mussel byssus thread can
use as an excellent pollution monitoring specimen.
The adhesive proteins have high commercial value because of their
non-toxic property. Natural and recombinant adhesive proteins are now
commercially available. The second chapter of the present thesis
concentrated on designing a new extraction protocol for the natural
extraction of adhesive proteins from P. perna. Here, a new protocol
was developed and the presence of polyphenolic foot protein 1 (fp-1)
in the sample was determined by acid urea electrophoresis and UV-
Visible spectroscopy. The extracted proteins pH stability was
determined by UV-Visible spectroscopy, adhesive strength study was
measured using AFM and hydrophobicity was determined by contact
angle measurement. The third chapter of the thesis focused on gene
sequencing of adhesive protein and insilico characterisation of theobtained and insilico characterisation results highlighted that mussel
foot protein 6 two variants act as protease inhibitors and had high
antioxidant activity. The mussel shells are an excellent source of
minerals and mineral deficiency is one of the hurdles in the farming
system. The fourth chapter of the thesis dealing the synthesis of new
slow-release fertilizer by using cow urine and mussel shell powder.
The combination of cow urine and shell powder leads to the formation
of struvite crystals which provide a more slow-releasing property to fertilizer and
also
rich
plants
essential
macro
and
micronutrients. Mytilus edulis is the most studied mussel in the field of
adhesion
research
followed
by
Mytilus californianus, Mytilus
galloprovincialis and P. viridis. The studies from P. perna are very
basic and not much progressive. Hence, the present research work is
open to new informative parts of adhesion research.
obtained protein. Two variants of P. perna foot protein 6 were obtained and insilico characterisation results highlighted that mussel
foot protein 6 two variants act as protease inhibitors and had high
antioxidant activity. The mussel shells are an excellent source of
minerals and mineral deficiency is one of the hurdles in the farming
system. The fourth chapter of the thesis dealing the synthesis of new
slow-release fertilizer by using cow urine and mussel shell powder.
The combination of cow urine and shell powder leads to the formation
of struvite crystals which provide a more slow-releasing property to
fertilizer
and
also
rich
plants
essential
macro
and
micronutrients. Mytilus edulis is the most studied mussel in the field of
adhesion
research
followed
by
Mytilus californianus, Mytilus
galloprovincialis and P. viridis. The studies from P. perna are very
basic and not much progressive. Hence, the present research work is
open to new informative parts of adhesion research. | en_US |
