AMORPHOUS CALCIUM-CARBONATE TRANSFORMS INTO CALCITE DURING SEA-URCHINLARVAL SPICULE GROWTH

Authors
BENIASH E AIZENBERG J ADDADI L WEINER S
Citation
E. Beniash et al., AMORPHOUS CALCIUM-CARBONATE TRANSFORMS INTO CALCITE DURING SEA-URCHINLARVAL SPICULE GROWTH, Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 264(1380), 1997, pp. 461-465
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Biology
Journal title
Proceedings - Royal Society. Biological Sciences → ACNP
ISSN journal
09628452
Volume
264
Issue
1380
Year of publication
1997
Pages
461 - 465
Database
ISI
SICI code
0962-8452(1997)264:1380<461:ACTICD>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
Sea urchin larvae form an endoskeleton composed of a pair of spicules. For more than a century it has been stated that each spicule comprise s a single crystal of the CaCO3 mineral, calcite. We show that an addi tional mineral phase, amorphous calcium carbonate, is present in the s ea urchin larval spicule, and that this inherently unstable mineral tr ansforms into calcite with time. This observation significantly change s our concepts of mineral formation in this well-studied organism.