‘Ill-tempered’ bloodworm’s secret weapon unearthed: metal fangs
A Flesh-eating worm with metal fangs could hold the secret to making strong and lightweight materials, scientists believe.
Glycera bloodworms live mainly in mud flats in on western Atlantic tidal areas but have also been found on the south coast of England.
They possess unusually powerful jaws that are made of a blend of copper, protein and melanin, a natural skin pigment, and are the only creature in the world to have metal-composite teeth.
The worms use their super-sturdy fangs to grasp and bite prey, injecting a venom that can paralyse victims.
The worm’s jaws are so strong that they can puncture exoskeletons, but until now their construction has remained a mystery.
“These are very disagreeable worms in that they are ill-tempered and easily provoked,” said co-author Dr Herbert Waite, a biochemist at University of California, Santa Barbara.
“When they encounter another worm, they usually fight using their copper jaws as weapons.”
Now, after 20 years of research, scientists have observed the chemical process that creates the ultra-strong teeth from start to finish in a breakthrough which could allow the creation of similarly strong materials for use in engineering and construction.
The team found that bloodworms carry a protein that attracts copper from marine sediments which they ingest.
The copper is then used as a catalyst to convert amino acids into melanin, which when combined with protein can build a jaw with mechanical properties that resembles manufactured metals.
The scientists said the worm makes a material that, if created in a lab, would involve a complicated process requiring a lot of apparatus, solvents, and differing temperatures.
“We never expected protein with such a simple composition to perform this many functions and unrelated activities,” added Dr
Waite.
“These materials could be road signs for how to make and engineer better consumer materials.” Bloodworms, which are often used as bait by saltwater fishermen, have been known to bite humans in shallow pools and wet sands, with painful results . Likened to a wasp sting, their bites can cause severe allergic reactions, which require hospital treatment . The
Natural History Museum in London discovered that bloodworm venom toxin genes are closely related to those expressed in bee and wasp venom, and so could trigger similar anaphylactic shock.
When attacking, the worm shoots out a long proboscis that holds four pincerlike jaws that clamp on to its victim and inject venom.
The worms can live for five years, and they keep the same teeth throughout their lifetime, which scientists think is one of the reasons they need to be so strong. The research was published in the journal