Calcium Carbonate Mineralization

摘要

The objectives of the present study were to determine the mechanisms of iontransport across mineralizing epithelia of barnacles, in particular to quantify the effects of altered protein structure on crystal form and arrangement and the effects of the molting hormone 20-OH ecdysone on calcium carbonate deposition rate and growth increment formation. The main technical focus was to develop new methods for monitoring and measuring the mineralization process. The studies of biomineralization by the principal investigator undertaken in the early 1950s demonstrated for the first time that (45)Ca could be used to measure the rate of mineral deposition in shells of marine molluscs. These studies conducted during 1992-1994 demonstrate, for the first time, that elemental probes, such as strontium and manganese, can substitute for calcium in mineral formation. Semi-quantitative electron probe x-ray images of Sr and Mn revealed that their incorporation is cyclical, directly related to addition of growth increments, and proportional to the amount of element in the sea water environment. This use of elemental probes, coupled with the development of a functional in vitro mineralizing epithelial preparation, makes possible a new approach to invertebrate mineralization studies.