Plankton, corals, and other organisms produce calcium carbonate skeletons that are integral to their survival, form a key component of the global carbon cycle, and record an archive of past oceanographic conditions in their geochemistry. A key aspect of the formation of these biominerals is the interaction between organic templating structures and mineral precipitation processes. Laboratory-based studies have shown that these atomic-scale processes can profoundly influence the architecture and composition of minerals, but their importance in calcifying organisms is poorly understood because it is difficult to measure the chemistry of in vivo biomineral interfaces at spatially relevant scales. Understanding the role of templates in biomineral nucleation, and their importance in skeletal geochemistry requires an integrated, multiscale approach, which can place atom-scale observations of organic-mineral interfaces within a broader structural and geochemical context. Here we map the chemistry of an embedded organic template structure within a carbonate skeleton of the foraminifera Orbulina universa using both atom probe tomography (APT), a 3D chemical imaging technique with Ångström-level spatial resolution, and time-of-flight secondary ionization mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), a 2D chemical imaging technique with submicron resolution. We quantitatively link these observations, revealing that the organic template in O. universa is uniquely enriched in both Na and Mg, and contributes to intraskeletal chemical heterogeneity. Our APT analyses reveal the cation composition of the organic surface, offering evidence to suggest that cations other than Ca 2+ , previously considered passive spectator ions in biomineral templating, may be important in defining the energetics of carbonate nucleation on organic templates. biomineralization | templating | foraminifera | geochemistry | paleoceanography
The behavior of an animal has substantial effects on its metabolism. Such effects, including changes in the lipid composition of different organs, or changes in the turnover of the proteins, have typically been observed using liquid mass spectrometry methods, averaging the effect of animal behavior across tissue samples containing multiple cells. These methods have provided the scientific community with valuable information, but have limited resolution, making it difficult if not impossible to examine metabolic effects at the cellular and subcellular levels. Recent advances in the field of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) have made it possible to examine the metabolic effects of animal behavior with high resolution at the nanoscale, enabling the analysis of the metabolic effects of behavior on individual cells. In this review we summarize and present these emerging methods, beginning with an overview of the SIMS technique. We then discuss the specific application of nanoscale SIMS (NanoSIMS) to examine cell behavior. This often requires the use of isotope labeling to highlight specific sections of the cell for analysis, an approach that is presented at length in this review article. We also present SIMS applications concerning animal and cell behavior, from development and aging to changes in the cellular activity programs. We conclude that the emerging group of SIMS technologies represents an exciting set of tools for the study of animal behavior and of its effects on internal metabolism at the smallest possible scales.
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