Biological Adhesives

About this book

Many plants, animals, and microbes use adhesive polymers and structures to attach to inert substrates, to each other, or to other organisms. This is the first major review that brings together research on many of the well-known biological adhesives. Emphasizing the diversity of biological adhesives and associated adhesion processes, it deals with bacteria, fungi, algae, and marine and terrestrial animals. It bridges a variety of disciplines including biochemistry, molecular biology, biomechanics, bioengineering, microbiology, organism structure and function, and ultrastructure. As we learn more about the molecular and mechanical properties of these adhesives, we begin to understand why they adhere so well and how they develop cohesive strength. With this understanding comes the prospect of developing synthetic or semi-synthetic adhesives with broad applications in areas such as medicine, dentistry, and biotechnology. The book is suitable for both industrial and academic researchers.

Contents

Mechanical properties of bacterial exopolymeric adhesives and their commercial development.- The molecular genetics of bioadhesion and biofilm formation.- Adhesion and adhesives of fungi and oomycetes.- The Ulva spore adhesive system.- Diatom adhesives: Molecular and mechanical properties.- Phenolic-based adhesives of marine brown algae.- Chemical subtleties of mussel and polychaete holdfasts.- Barnacle underwater attachment.- The biochemistry and mechanics of gastropod adhesive gels.- Adhesive secretions in echinoderms: an overview.- An adhesive secreted by australian frogs of the genus Notaden.- Properties, principles, and parameters of the gecko adhesive system.- Biomimetic adhesive polymers based on mussel adhesive proteins.

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