WORDS FOR GLUE IN BIOLOGY
In this blog, we will talk about some words in biology that are related to glue.These words are used in different contexts of biology to refer to sticky substances.
Mesoglea
Mesoglea is a jellylike, gelatinous layer found in cnidarians like jellyfish and corals, as well as ctenophores. It is located between the inner and outer cell layers (endoderm and ectoderm) of these animals.
“Mesoglea” is composed of two words: middle (meso-) + glue-like (-gloea).
“Meso-” refers to the fact that the layer is sandwiched between the inner and outer cell layers of these animals.
“Glea” refers to the gelatinous (jelly-like or glue-like) characteristic of the layer. It is mostly composed of water, with some fibrous proteins like collagen and proteoglycans mixed in.
Collagen
If we dive into the word “collagen,” it is formed of two words: “colla” meaning glue and “gen” meaning to give birth or to produce. So here, this word means glue producer.
Collagen is responsible for the glue-like appearance of mesoglea. So, collagen is the structural part of the glue (the mesoglea), and it is the reason behind the glue-like appearance of mesoglea.
Colloid
A colloid is a substance that acts like glue. It’s made up of tiny particles that are spread out evenly in another substance, but they don’t sink to the bottom or completely mix in. For example, imagine mixing glue in water—the glue stays mixed in the water without settling at the bottom or fully dissolving.
The name “colloid” reflects this glue-like behavior, where the particles stay suspended and don’t settle out.
Collage
A collage is a composition made by combining various materials, such as photographs or pieces of paper, and sticking them onto a surface. The connection to glue is direct—creating a collage involves sticking different pieces together, much like how glue holds things in place. It’s called a ‘collage’ because the process of assembling these materials involves gluing them together to form a unified artwork. In modern days, the word is also commonly used in the context of mobile photos, where digital collages are created by combining different images into one.
So far, we have come across two words that mean glue:
- colla
- glea
The word “gluten” is another word for glue.
Glutinants
This word is also used to describe a characteristic of hydra. Let’s discover it.
Hydra has mainly four types of nematocysts. What is a nematocyst?
Simply enough, “nemato-” means thread, and “cyst” means a type of container. So, it is the container where the thread remains. Hydra uses these threads for moving and capturing its food.
Among them, two are called glutinants.
They are named “glutinants” because their discharged threads have a sticky (glue-like) coating that helps them adhere to prey or surfaces.
“Glutinant” nematocysts are named as such because they function like glue to capture prey or attach the cnidarian to surfaces using their sticky threads.
Glutenin
This has nothing in common with hydra except for the name, meaning glue.
There are many types of simple proteins, and one of them is glutenin. This type of protein is found in wheat. Now, what is its relation to glue?
When you mix flour with water, it becomes a glue-like, elastic substance. This glue-like texture is due to the protein glutenin. When flour is mixed with water, these proteins hydrate and begin to form gluten (glue).
Myxine
Myxine is a class of animals under the subphylum Vertebrata.
“Myxine” comes from the Ancient Greek word “myxa” meaning slime, referring to the abundance of slime this hagfish can produce.
Mucus also comes from the same origin, referring to jelly-like substances found in various parts of the body.
Myxine glutinosa
As we have discussed, “myxa” means glue, and “gluten” also means glue, so this name will be easier for you to digest. This is a kind of redundant term because both parts of the name refer to the slime-producing nature of the animal.
The slime produced by this animal helps it survive predators.
Myxine glutinosa can rapidly secrete large amounts of a dilute, sticky slime when threatened by predators. This slime can clog and suffocate the gills of attackers, deterring them. The slime expands rapidly in water, creating a large, cohesive mass that can trap or divert predators.