In‐situ Raman Spectroscopic Imaging of a Mussel Coating and Adhesive
The mussel has evolved a very interesting and efficient way of attaching to hard substrata in wave‐swept rocky seashores. This is enabled by a bundle of fine protein based threads called the byssus. The byssus is emerging as an effective model system for studying the requirements for underwater adhesion, wear resistance and combined hardness and extensibility (1, 2). Careful secretion of different mussel foot proteins (mfp) combined with some metal ions (Fe3+, Zn2+ etc.) allows the mussel to tune properties and optimize function of diverse parts of byssus thread (3).Here we report in‐situ high‐resolution Raman spectroscopic imaging of the byssal coating and plaque showing micron level spatial distribution of various proteins and their interaction with Fe3+ using specific Resonance Raman (RR) spectral features. 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) is a strong chelator of Fe3+ within a specific pH window (stability constant of [Fe(dopa)3]3− complex can reach values up to Kf∼1045). The charge transfer from the ...