future of our industry, and the unique
programming the camp provides shows
the value of industry’s collaboration
with the community.”
Clemson University’s
Researchers Develop Novel
Antifouling Paint
A team of biologists, led by Clemson
University associate professor Andrew S.
Mount, performed cutting-edge research
on a marine pest that will pave the way
for novel anti-fouling paint for ships and
boats and also improve bio-adhesives for
medical and industrial applications.
The team’s findings, published in
“Nature Communications,” examined
the last larval stage of barnacles that attaches to a wide variety of surfaces using
highly versatile, natural, possibly polymeric material that acts as an underwater
heavy-duty adhesive.
“In previous research, we were try-
ing to understand how barnacle ad-
hesives were interacting with surfaces
of different chemistries,” said Mount,
an author on the journal article and
founder and director of the Okeanos
Research Laboratory in Clemson’s
department of biological sciences.
“Most biofouling researchers assume
that cyprid larval adhesive plaques are
primarily composed of proteins and
peptides, but we discovered that lipids
are also present, which means that the
composition of the permanent adhe-
sive is far more complicated that previ-
ously realized.”
The torpedo-shaped cyprid larvae is
the last larval stage before the animal
undergoes metamorphosis to become
the familiar barnacle seen on pilings and
jetties along the coast. Once the cyprid
has found a potentially suitable spot, it
cements itself permanently in place and
then undergoes metamorphosis to be-
come an adult calcareous barnacle.
In order to survive and reproduce,
benthic – or bottom-dwelling – ma-
rine invertebrates like barnacles need
to attach themselves in close
proximity to each other. These
organisms have evolved an ar-
ray of adhesion mechanisms
that allow them to attach virtually any-
where, including nuclear submarines,
maritime ships and offshore drilling
rigs, and even to animals like turtles
and whales.
“The ability of barnacles to adhere to
surfaces that have very different physical
and chemical properties is unique and
provides insight into the unique physic-
chemical properties of their larval adhe-
sive,” Mount said.
With funding from the Office of
Naval Research, the researchers built a
two-photon microscopy system and, in
collaboration with Marcus Cicerone at
the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, employed his innovative
technique known as Broadband Coherent
Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering to delineate the two different phases of the barnacle cyprid adhesive plaque. CW
