{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Simmons M"],"funding":["Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)","Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","Canada Research Chairs (Chaires de recherche du Canada)","Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)","Canada Research Chairs"],"pagination":["e2311901120"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10691215"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["120(48)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Zebra and quagga mussels (<i>Dreissena spp.</i>) are invasive freshwater biofoulers that perpetrate devastating economic and ecological impact. Their success depends on their ability to anchor onto substrates with protein-based fibers known as byssal threads. Yet, compared to other mussel lineages, little is understood about the proteins comprising their fibers or their evolutionary history. Here, we investigated the hierarchical protein structure of <i>Dreissenid</i> byssal threads and the process by which they are fabricated. Unique among bivalves, we found that threads possess a predominantly <i>β</i>-sheet crystalline structure reminiscent of spider silk. Further analysis revealed unexpectedly that the <i>Dreissenid</i> thread protein precursors are mechanoresponsive <i>α</i>-helical p"],"journal":["Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"],"pubmed_title":["Invasive mussels fashion silk-like byssus via mechanical processing of massive horizontally acquired coiled coils."],"pmcid":["PMC10691215"],"funding_grant_id":["RGPIN-2018-05243","CRC Tier 2 950-231953","528314512"],"pubmed_authors":["Jackson DJ","Horbelt N","Simmons M","Harrington MJ","Scoppola E","Sverko T"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Invasive mussels fashion silk-like byssus via mechanical processing of massive horizontally acquired coiled coils.","description":"Zebra and quagga mussels (<i>Dreissena spp.</i>) are invasive freshwater biofoulers that perpetrate devastating economic and ecological impact. Their success depends on their ability to anchor onto substrates with protein-based fibers known as byssal threads. Yet, compared to other mussel lineages, little is understood about the proteins comprising their fibers or their evolutionary history. Here, we investigated the hierarchical protein structure of <i>Dreissenid</i> byssal threads and the process by which they are fabricated. Unique among bivalves, we found that threads possess a predominantly <i>β</i>-sheet crystalline structure reminiscent of spider silk. Further analysis revealed unexpectedly that the <i>Dreissenid</i> thread protein precursors are mechanoresponsive <i>α</i>-helical p","dates":{"release":"2023-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2023 Nov","modification":"2026-06-01T23:41:50.141Z","creation":"2026-05-23T03:08:18.321Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC10691215","cross_references":{"pubmed":["37983489"],"doi":["10.1073/pnas.2311901120"]}}