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2007-03-22T20:42:28Z

64.122.14.64:

'''Byssus''', plural "byssi", derives from [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''būṣ'' 'fine linen,' [[Aramaic]] ''bus'', [[Greek language|Greek]] ''βύσσος'' – 'a very fine yellowish [[flax]] and the [[linen]] woven from it', [[Latin]] ''byssus'' – 'fine [[cotton]] or cotton stuff', '[[silk]]' and via [[New Latin]] to '[[sea silk]]'.

[[Image: Byssus threads.gif|right|thumbnail|300px|Bussus threads on [[mussel]]s]]

As may be seen above, the word byssus not only refers to the excretions of seashells, as sometimes assumed, but was originally used for various fine threads and cloths.

# An exceptionally fine and valuable fibre or cloth of ancient times. Originally used for fine flax and linens, its use was later extended to fine cottons, silks, and sea silk.
# The long fine silky [[filament]]s excreted by several [[mollusk]]s (particularly ''Pinna nobilis'') by which they attach themselves to the [[sea bed]], from which [[sea silk]] is manufactured. They range to 6 [[Centimetre|cm]] in length.
# The [[stipe (mycology)|stipe]] (stem) of certain [[fungi]] which are particularly thin and thread-like.

==In mussels==
Mussels use byssus to attach onto rocks and other surfaces. When a mussel's foot comes across a crevice, it creates a vacuum chamber by forcing out the air and arching up, similar to a plumber's plunger unclogging a drain. In this vacuum chamber, the byssus, made of [[keratin]] and other proteins, is spewed, and bubbles into a sticky foam. By curling its foot into a tube and pumping the foam, the mussel produces sticky threads about the size of a human [[hair]]. It varnishes the threads with another protein to end up with an adhesive.

Byssus is a remarkable adhesive in that water does not degrade or deform it as it does with synthetic adhesives. This has spurred [[Genetic engineering|genetic engineers]] to insert mussel [[DNA]] into [[yeast]] cells for translating the genes into the appropriate proteins.

==References==
* ''The Compact edition of the Oxford English dictionary: complete text reproduced micrographically and Supplement.'' Oxford at the Clarendon Press. 1987
* ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged)'' 1976. G. & C. Merriam Co.
* Ecsedy, Hilda 1975. "Böz – An Exotic Cloth in the Chinese Imperial Court." Hilda Ecsedy. ''Altorientalische Forschungen 3'': pp. 145-153.
* Starr, Cecie and Taggart, Ralph. ''Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life''. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2004.

[[Category:Animal anatomy]]

[[de:Byssus]]
[[es:Biso]]
[[eo:Bisino]]
[[it:Bisso]]
[[lb:Byssus]]
[[nl:Byssus]]
[[pl:Bisior]]
[[zh:Byssus]]

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AY Honors/Shells - Advanced/Answer Key