Tissue Regeneration in the Shell of the Giant Queen Conch, Strombus gigas

Abstract

The crossed-lamellar microarchitecture (microstructure) of the shell of Strombus gigas, the giant Queen conch native to Caribbean habitats, is the most common of the several shell microarchitectures known in the mollusk family. We have studied tissue regeneration in juvenile S. gigas conchs and compared the microstructure in this regenerated tissue to the microstructure of wild S. gigas shells. The regenerated hard tissue was of two types: hard tissue grown during wound repair, and so-called "flat pearls" which are hard tissue grown on abiotic substrates inserted between the mantle and the outer covering. In both cases, the crossed-lamellar microstructure is observed after formation of a transition structure consisting of a large quantity of matrix and aggregates of aragonite crystallites.

Characterization of the multilayered shell of a limpet, Lottia kogamogai (Mollusca: Patellogastropoda), using SEM–EBSD and FIB–TEM techniques

“…M + 1 and M À 1 layers M + 1 and M À 1 layers have a typical ''crossed lamellar" structure, as already described in Wilmot et al (1992), Kobayashi and Akai (1994), Su et al (2004) and Fuchigami and Sasaki (2005).…”

“…In addition, the boundary between the prisms is not exactly straight. This means that the crystallographic Miller indices to the surfaces of the lamellar prism cannot be determined unambiguously as reported in the previous works (Kobayashi and Akai, 1994;Su et al, 2004).…”

“…4D). The mineral phase is aragonite which is identified from the diffraction pattern and characteristic banded contrast of {1 1 0} twins (Su et al, 2004). The result of the crystal orientation analysis using SAED patterns from the cross sections of the lamellar prism is shown in Fig.…”

Studies on the Chemical Structures of Organic Matrices and Their Functions in the Biomineralization Processes of Molluscan Shells

“…The crossed lamellar microstructure has a complex hierarchical structure with first-, second-, and thirdorder lamellae (Wilmot et al 1992;Kobayashi and Akai 1994;Su et al 2004;Suzuki et al 2010) (Fig. 2C).…”

Analysis of the mechanical response of biomimetic materials with highly oriented microstructures through 3D printing, mechanical testing and modeling

“…The remarkable mechanical properties (e.g., low density, strength and toughness) that distinguish biocomposites from common engineering materials have been attributed to their unique architecture [1], which consists of an arrangement of crystalline prisms or platelets [2]- [4], needles [5], [6], columns [7], [8] or rods [9], [10] encapsulated with an organic matrix. In particular, naturally occurring ceramic-based composites are composed of high volume fractions of stiff mineral (e.g., hydroxyapatite or aragonite) surrounded by compliant organic (i.e., polypeptides or polysaccharides) which present weak interfaces [11], [12] to afford structures with remarkable mechanical properties.…”