University of Queensland researchers Dr Ian Whittington and Dr Bronwen Cribb are happy to be getting stuck into their research.
They are among the first researchers in the world to investigate super marine glues secreted by tiny parasitic flatworms - known as monogeneans - which live on the gills, fins and skin of fishes.
'The glues are remarkable because the worms can attach instantaneously to wet, slimy surfaces which are washed with enormous volumes of fast-flowing water,' Dr Whittington said.
'We are examining the heads of these parasites which don't have hooks for attachment but use glues to hold on tight while fish are moving rapidly through water.
'They also have the fascinating ability to sever their attachment instantly.
'Our research targets the chemistry and ultrastructure of these adhesives, which have great potential in surgery, dentistry and underwater construction for bonding surfaces in wet conditions.'
While in the 19th century medical practitioners used leeches to bleed patients, Dr Whittington believes 21st century surgeons could be reaching for glues from marine parasites to literally stick patients back on the road to recovery.
Dr Whittington is the director of the University's Heron Island Research Station in the southern half of the Great Barrier Reef, near Gladstone, and a senior lecturer in the Parasitology Department. Dr Cribb is a research fellow in the University's Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis at St Lucia, Brisbane.
They are perfectly placed to pursue the project, with access to some of the most sophisticated electron microscopes and molecular probes in the southern hemisphere.
They also have an unlimited supply of bioadhesives from monogenean parasites of fishes found around Heron Island and the adjoining Wistari Reef on the Great Barrier Reef.
Dr Whittington said while some researchers had looked at attachment of the back end of the parasites, 'no-one has addressed the front end.'
'We think the glues are packaged in a way like Araldite?, with parasites exuding several types of secretions which individually are not sticky but when joined together create a super adhesive.
'We're also curious to learn how they sever this bond. A reversible marine super glue could have great commercial potential.'
The project, which was seed-funded by a University of Queensland New Staff Research Grant in 1996, is examining the interactions between different kinds of secretions from the front gland cells of a range of monogeneans to determine how these biological adhesives work. Further funding to extend the scope of the project is being sought this year from the Australian Research Council.
Using transmission electron microscopes and scanning electron microscopes, the researchers are examining the glands to determine how many secretions are exuded, and how they interact.
Dr Judy Halliday at the University's Centre for Drug Design and Development is collaborating using advanced molecular techniques to further knowledge of the interaction and chemical composition of these proteins.
Dr Whittington said while the bioadhesion industry had examined glues from marine invertebrates such as mussels and barnacles, monogenean parasites were unstudied for adhesives.
About 300 species have been described in Australia, but scientists estimated at least 2000 species of this group of parasites were on the 1000 fish species of fish around Heron Island alone.
As there were some 3500 species of marine fishes in Australian waters, it was obvious many more monogenean species still remained to be described, and many were likely to have fascinating adaptations to parasitism.
Dr Whittington and Dr Cribb feel they will be sticking to the project, so to speak, for a long time yet to prise open secrets of of these little-known but potentially important parasites for use by the medical and marine communities.
For further information, contact Dr Whittington, telephone 07 49781 399/07 3365 3302 or Dr Cribb, telephone 07 3365 3025/07 3365 7086.
