Formation of aragonite mesocrystals and implication for biomineralization

Zhou, Gen‐Tao; Yao, Qi-Zhi; Ni, Jie; Jin, Gu

doi:10.2138/am.2009.2957

Cited by 90 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…On the side surface of the hexagonal prisms, multiple nanosheets grow from the bottom as coating skins, indicating that the starting point of the growth is at the bottom ends of the mesorods and the mesorods have a high crystallinity. Similarly, aragonite crystal mesorods were synthesized by Zhou et al and Nan et al [41,42].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation Mechanism of CaCO3 Spherulites in the Myostracum Layer of Limpet Shells

Chiang

Zhou

2017

Crystals

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CaCO 3 spherulites were found in the myostracum layer of common limpet shells collected from East Sands, St Andrews, Scotland. Their microstructures were revealed by using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. The formation mechanisms of these spherulites and their morphology evolution were postulated. It was proposed that spherical particles of an inorganic and biological composite formed first. In the centre of each spherical particle a double-layer disk of vaterite crystal sandwiching a biological sheet developed. The disk crystal supplies a relatively strong mirror symmetric dipole field, guiding the orientations of the nanocrystallites and the arrangement of mesorods and, therefore, determining the final morphology of the spherulite.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation Mechanism of CaCO3 Spherulites in the Myostracum Layer of Limpet Shells

Chiang

Zhou

2017

Crystals

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“…It is important to note that the evidence for ACC is tenuous because ACC has ν 1 FWHM of >20 cm −1 (Wang et al, 2012), which would imply an increase in FWHM orders of magnitude more than the ∼10% changes observed by both us and Von Euw et al (2017). Furthermore, observations with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) show that COCs are composed of ∼100 nm grains oriented as mesocrystals with no clear sign of ACC (Benzerara et al, 2011), similar to abiogenic aragonites grown without organic additives (Zhou et al, 2009). …”

Section: Summary and High-resolution Raman Mappingmentioning

confidence: 90%

The Origin and Role of Organic Matrix in Coral Calcification: Insights From Comparing Coral Skeleton and Abiogenic Aragonite

DeCarlo¹,

Ren²,

Farfán³

2018

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Understanding the mechanisms of coral calcification is critical for accurately projecting coral reef futures under ocean acidification and warming. Recent suggestions that calcification is primarily controlled by organic molecules and the biological activity of the coral polyp imply that ocean acidification may not affect skeletal accretion. The basis for these suggestions relies heavily on correlating the presence of organic matter with the orientation and disorder of aragonite crystals in the skeleton, carrying the assumption that organic matter observed in the skeleton was produced by the polyp to control calcification. Here we use Raman spectroscopy to test whether there are differences in organic matter content between coral skeleton and abiogenic aragonites precipitated from seawater, both before and after thermal annealing (heating). We measured the background fluorescence and intensity of C-H bonding signals in the Raman spectra, which are commonly attributed to coral polyp-derived skeletal organic matrix (SOM) and have been used to map its distribution. Surprisingly, we found no differences in either fluorescence or C-H bonding between abiogenic aragonite and coral skeleton. Annealing reduced the molecular disorder in coral skeleton, potentially due to removal of organic matter, but the same effect was also observed in the abiogenic aragonites. The presence of organic molecules in the abiogenic aragonites is further supported by measurements of N content and δ 15 N. Together, our data suggest that some of what has been interpreted in previous studies as polyp-derived SOM may actually be seawater-sourced organic matter or some other signal not unique to biogenic aragonite. Finally, we create a high-resolution Raman map of a Pocillopora skeleton to demonstrate how patterns of fluorescence and elevated calcifying fluid aragonite saturation state ( Ar ) along centers of calcification are consistent with both biological and physico-chemical controls. Our aim is to advance discussion on biological mediation of calcification and the implications for coral resilience in a high-CO 2 world.

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“…The concept of mesocrystal developed by Cölfen and Mann (2003) (see also Antonietti 2005, 2008;Niederberger and Cölfen 2006;Song and Cölfen 2009 and references therein) and elaborated on the concepts of "particle aggregation" and "nanocrystal superlattices" developed in colloids (Bailey et al 1993;Collier et al 1998;Privman et al 1999) apply primarily to superstructures made of nanograins. The extension of the concept to superstructures made of submicrometer or even larger units is recent and directly associated with the study of biominerals Sethmann et al 2007;Vielzeuf et al 2008;Zhou et al 2009). The mesocrystalline nature of the red coral skeleton (but not the sclerites) has been discussed in two previous articles (Vielzeuf et al 2010(Vielzeuf et al , 2008.…”

Section: The Mesocrystalline Nature Of the Scleritesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mesocrystals defined as 3D assemblies of similarly oriented nano-or micrometer-sized crystalline units are expected to play an increasing role in the synthesis of advanced materials (Cölfen and Antonietti 2008;Cölfen and Mann 2003;Song and Cölfen 2009;Zhou et al 2009;Zhou and O'Brien 2008). Despite the broad interest and the publication of numerous articles on mesocrystals Antonietti 2005, 2008;Imai et al 2006;Meldrum and Cölfen 2008;Niederberger and Cölfen 2006;Wang et al 2005;Zhou and O'Brien 2008), the structural properties of this new class of materials are not fully described and the processes leading to their formation remain unclear (Song and Cölfen 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscale twinning and crystallographic registers in biominerals

Floquet

Vielzeuf

2011

American Mineralogist

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Mesocrystals attract increasing interest in the fields of physics, chemistry, materials, and Earth sciences. Yet, structural properties of this new class of solid materials are not fully described. Biominerals often display complex hierarchical mesocrystalline organizations. We report on the crystallography of sclerites, which are small (∼80 µm), beautifully shaped calcitic biomineral structures found in the living tissues of octocorals. Despite a layered concentric structure, the submicrometer crystalline units constituting the sclerites display a remarkably simple crystallographic organization of similarly oriented units with only a low degree of misorientation between them. Some sclerites display crystallographic sectors, leading to the concept of "mesotwin." A mesotwin is to a twin what a "mesocrystal" is to a crystal: an analog with defects. On the basis of EBSD data, we propose a simple conceptual crystallographic model that accounts for the observed features. This model involves different rhombohedral unit blocks, with identical shapes and volumes, but different crystallographic faces. EBSD data show that quite unexpectedly slight misorientations of crystallites in the sclerites are not at random but organized around the three equivalent a axes of the hexagonal unit cell of calcite. In a subtle way, the overall organization and morphologies of the red coral sclerites are connected to the calcite crystallography.

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Formation of aragonite mesocrystals and implication for biomineralization

Cited by 90 publications

References 57 publications

Formation Mechanism of CaCO3 Spherulites in the Myostracum Layer of Limpet Shells

Formation Mechanism of CaCO3 Spherulites in the Myostracum Layer of Limpet Shells

The Origin and Role of Organic Matrix in Coral Calcification: Insights From Comparing Coral Skeleton and Abiogenic Aragonite

Mesoscale twinning and crystallographic registers in biominerals

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