engleski

Comparison of bioinorganic aragonitic structures from two marine invertebrates

Cuttlebone of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and shell of fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) compose their biomineral structures from aragonite, a polymorph of calcium carbonate. Although both of these organisms belong to the same phylum of Mollusca, they aragonitic structures are different on the macro scale. Cuttlebone has highly porous aragonitic septs that provide mechanical support and enable buoyancy regulation, while shell of fan mussel is rigid, composed of outer calcitic and inner aragonitic layer, and serves as a mechanical protection. Presentation describes morphological properties of these biomineral structures with the insight in the mechanism of their formation. Morphologies were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The obtained results confirm and complement the existing hypotheses (1- 3) relating to the significant role of particle mediated nanoscale aggregation processes in formation of hierarchically organized sub- micrometer and micrometer-sized biomineral structures in skeletons and tissues of many mineralizing organisms. References: [1] I. Sondi, B. Salopek – Sondi, S. D. Škapin, S. Šegota, I. Jurina and B. Vukelić, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 354, (2011), p. 181 [2] I. Sondi, S.D. Škapin, I. Jurina and D. Slovenec. Geologia Croatica 64/1 (2011), p. 61. [3] I. Sondi and S. D. Škapin in “Biomimetics, Learning from Nature”, ed. Amitava Mukherjee (InTech, Viena) (2010) p. 241.

aggregation; nanoscale; biomineralization; Sepia officinalis; Pinna nobilis

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