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The Strategy

Before it makes byssal threads, a mussel's foot snakes out of its shell, probing for a suitable place to stick. When the foot is ready to attach, it secretes a series of liquid protein s in a specific sequence, which quickly solidify. Some, mostly collagen (the same protein that makes skin stretchy), become the thin but strong thread itself. Others form a hard protective coating around both the plaque and thread. And just a few of the proteins are adhesive and form the anchoring plaque.

What makes these proteins so sticky is that they contain high concentrations of a special molecule called L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, or dopa. Dopa sticks very easily to many surfaces, including famously non-stick ones like Teflon, because of how it bonds chemically to them. Each molecule contains side chains that share electrons with rocky surfaces, forming phenomenally strong bonds.

But just like the primer you have to apply to wood before you paint it, scientists have recently discovered that another protein, lysine (lys), helps prepare the wet surfaces for dopa.

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Mussels Hold On With Fancy Footwork - Biological Strategy - AskNature

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Mussel byssal threads attach to wet rocks using adhesive proteins that first prime their surfaces and then chemically bind to them.