No abstract

Interest in calcifying coralline algae has been increasing over the past years due to the discovery of extensive coralline algal dominated ecosystems in Arctic and Subarctic latitudes, their projected sensitivity to ocean acidification and their utility as palaeoenvironmental proxies. Thus, it is crucial to obtain a detailed understanding of their calcification process. We here extracted calcified skeletal organic matrix components including soluble and insoluble fractions from the widely-distributed Subarctic and Arctic coralline alga Clathromorphum compactum. The lyophilized skeletal organic matrix fractions showed comparatively high concentrations of soluble and insoluble organic matrices comprising 0.9% and 4.5% of skeletal weight, respectively. This is significantly higher than in other skeletal marine calcifiers. Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) results indicate that chitin is present in the skeletal organic matrices of C. compactum. This polymer exhibits similar hierarchical structural organizations with collagen present in the matrix and serves as a template for nucleation and controls the location and orientation of mineral phases. Chitin contributes to significantly increasing skeletal strength, making C. compactum highly adapted for living in a shallow high-latitude benthic environment. Furthermore, chitin containing polysaccharides can increase resistance of calcifiers to negative effects of ocean acidification.

Calcium carbonate exists in two main forms, calcite and aragonite, in the skeletons of marine organisms. The primary mineralogy of marine carbonates has changed over the history of the earth depending on the magnesium/calcium ratio in seawater during the periods of the so-called "calcite and aragonite seas." Organisms that prefer certain mineralogy appear to flourish when their preferred mineralogy is favored by seawater chemistry. However, this rule is not without exceptions. For example, some octocorals produce calcite despite living in an aragonite sea. Here, we address the unresolved question of how organisms such as soft corals are able to form calcitic skeletal elements in an aragonite sea. We show that an extracellular protein called ECMP-67 isolated from soft coral sclerites induces calcite formation in vitro even when the composition of the calcifying solution favors aragonite precipitation. Structural details of both the surface and the interior of single crystals generated upon interaction with ECMP-67 were analyzed with an apertureless-type nearfield IR microscope with high spatial resolution. The results show that this protein is the main determining factor for driving the production of calcite instead of aragonite in the biocalcification process and that -OH, secondary structures (e.g. ␣-helices and amides), and other necessary chemical groups are distributed over the center of the calcite crystals. Using an atomic force microscope, we also explored how this extracellular protein significantly affects the molecular-scale kinetics of crystal formation. We anticipate that a more thorough investigation of the proteinaceous skeleton content of different calcite-producing marine organisms will reveal similar components that determine the mineralogy of the organisms. These findings have significant implications for future models of the crystal structure of calcite in nature.The primary mineralogy of marine carbonates has changed over geological history depending on the magnesium/calcium ratio in seawater, including during the so-called "aragonite sea" (1) period and two periods of "calcite seas" (2). This ratio is apparently driven by changes in spreading rates along midocean ridges (1). The calcification process of aragonite and calcite mineralogy in mollusk shells (3-8) and some information about calcite (9, 10) have been reported, but our knowledge of the mechanism of the direct biological formation of calcite in marine organisms, especially in corals, remains incomplete. To develop a more complete understanding of calcite formation, detailed information concerning how biomolecules contribute to the kinetics of crystal formation, as well as the structural details of both the surface and the interior of single crystals in the submicrometer to nanometer scale must be analyzed. The mechanism of calcite formation in soft coral sclerites that we report here is completely different from the mechanisms used by other calcifying marine organisms, featuring new chemical groups and different types of single crys...

Marine organisms harbor numerous bioactive substances that can be utilized in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Scientific research on various applications of collagen extracted from these organisms has become increasingly prevalent. Marine collagen can be used as a biomaterial because it is water soluble, metabolically compatible, and highly accessible. Upon review of the literature, it is evident that marine collagen is a versatile compound capable of healing skin injuries of varying severity, as well as delaying the natural human aging process. From in vitro to in vivo experiments, collagen has demonstrated its ability to invoke keratinocyte and fibroblast migration as well as vascularization of the skin. Additionally, marine collagen and derivatives have proven beneficial and useful for both osteoporosis and osteoarthritis prevention and treatment. Other bone-related diseases may also be targeted by collagen, as it is capable of increasing bone mineral density, mineral deposition, and importantly, osteoblast maturation and proliferation. In this review, we demonstrate the advantages of marine collagen over land animal sources and the biomedical applications of marine collagen related to bone and skin damage. Finally, some limitations of marine collagen are briefly discussed.

The extraction and purification of collagen are of great interest due to its biological function and medicinal applications. Although marine invertebrates are abundant in the animal kingdom, our knowledge of their extracellular matrix (ECM), which mainly contains collagen, is lacking. The functions of collagen isolated from marine invertebrates remain an untouched source of the proteinaceous component in the development of groundbreaking pharmaceuticals. This review will give an overview of currently used collagens and their future applications, as well as the methodological issues of collagens from marine invertebrates for potential drug discovery.