Characterization of Bioadhesives From Marine Diatom Slimes & Their Interactions With Different Substrata; Developing Environmentally Friendly.....

Grant number: LP0454982

Abstract

This project represents a collaborative effort between Melbourne University, the Department of Defense and Akzo Nobel to develop new, environmentally friendly strategies to modify and/or prevent marine slime adhesion in anti-foul coatings or paint. Fouling by diatom slimes occurs at great expense to industry and the Australian Navy, adding up to 60% annually to the cost of propulsive fuel consumption in shipping. We will characterize the chemical and physical properties of the slime adhesives in order to understand how organisms control adhesion, and use these principles to develop new technology, anti-foul paints.

Related publications (10)

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Novel whole cell adhesion assays of three isolates of the fouling diatom Amphora coffeaeformis reveal diverse responses to surfaces of different wettability

OM Hodson, JP Monty, PJ Molino, R Wetherbee

2012-04-01

Whole cell, strength of adhesion assays of three different isolates of the fouling diatom Amphora coffeaeformis were compared usin..

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Development of the initial diatom microfouling layer on antifouling and fouling-release surfaces in temperate and tropical Australia

PJ Molino, E Campbell, R Wetherbee

2009-11-01

Diatoms are a major component of the slime layers that form on artificial surfaces in marine environments. In this article, the ro..

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Development of the primary bacterial microfouling layer on antifouling and fouling release coatings in temperate and tropical environments in Eastern Australia

PJ Molino, S Childs, MR Eason Hubbard, JM Carey, MA Burgman, R Wetherbee

2009-02-01

The role played by bacteria during the pioneering stages of colonisation on marine coatings was investigated over three distinct s..

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The quartz crystal microbalance: A new tool for the investigation of the bioadhesion of diatoms to surfaces of differing surface energies

PJ Molino, OM Hodson, JF Quinn, R Wetherbee

2008-07-01

Diatoms are a major component of the biofoul layer found on modern low-surface-energy, 'foul release' coatings. While diatoms adhe..

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Divalent cations stabilize the aggregation of sulfated glycoproteins in the adhesive nanofibers of the biofouling diatom Toxarium undulatum

A Chiovitti, P Heraud, TM Dugdale, OM Hodson, RCA Curtain, RR Dagastine, BR Wood, R Wetherbee

2008-01-01

A species of marine diatom, Toxarium undulatum, has emerged as a problematic biofouler of contemporary environmentally benign mari..

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Characterisation of the adhesion of fouling diatoms onto test surfaces

A Willis, J Pacifico, TM Dugdale, R Wetherbee

2007-01-01

The dominant presence of marine diatoms fouling the latest non-toxic, antifoul coatings has increased interest in characterising d..

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Utilizing QCM-D to characterize the adhesive mucilage secreted by two marine diatom species in-situ and real-time

PJ Molino, OM Hudson, JF Quinn, R Wetherbee

2006-11-01

The quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) was used to monitor the deposition of adhesive extracellular p..

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Adhesive modular proteins occur in the extracellular mucilage of the motile, pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

TM Dugdale, A Willis, R Wetherbee

2006-01-01

This Letter reports on adhesive modular proteins recorded by atomic force microscopy on live cells from the extracellular mucilage..

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Diatom adhesive mucilage contains distinct supramolecular assemblies of a single modular protein

TM Dugdale, R Dagastine, A Chiovitti, R Wetherbee

2006-01-01

A previous study used atomic force microscopy saw-tooth retraction curves to characterize the adhesive mucilage pads of the diatom..

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Single adhesive nanofibers from a live diatom have the signature fingerprint of modular proteins

TM Dugdale, R Dagastine, A Chiovitti, P Mulvaney, R Wetherbee

2005-01-01

The adhesive and mechanical properties of a cell-substratum adhesive secreted by live diatom cells were examined in situ using ato..

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