Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/09/2014
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Title: Hagfish Slime Unraveled

Speaker: Dr. Douglas Fudge

Institute: University of Guelph, Department of Integrative Biology

Location: ABB 102

Description:

Hagfishes are renowned for their ability to produce seemingly impossible volumes of fibrous slime, which functions as an effective deterrent against fish predators. Here I will present answers to several questions about hagfish slime including: How do hagfishes make so much slime? Where is the slime made and by which cells? How is the slime deployed into seawater and how does it set up so quickly? What regulates unraveling of the fibrous component and the swelling of the mucous component in seawater? How do specialized cells within the slime glands each produce a 15 cm long silk-like fibre in their cytoplasm? Lastly, I will discuss our biomimetic efforts to produce high performance protein fibres inspired by hagfish slime threads.