Characterisation of a bundling protein involved in the self-assembly of bioelastomeric snail egg cases

Abstract

The carnivorous marine snail Pugilina cochlidium is found predominantly on the sea shores of the South-East Asia region. This sea creature lays a string of egg capsules up to a metre in length which houses its embryos. The egg capsule material must be able to withstand and resist the harsh and relentless tidal forces of the ocean in order for the off-springs to develop properly and survive.The egg capsule was found to be made up of egg capsule protein precursors which domains are predominately filamentous made of coiled-coils. Four laminar protein sheets were also found to be oriented perpendicular to each other. Mechanical V Volts xg Centrifugal gravitational force βME 2-Mercaptoethanol, Beta-Mercaptoethanol