Biological Sciences
Biomineralization
Biomineralization is the process by which living organisms produce minerals within their tissues. This process is essential for the formation of hard tissues such as bones, teeth, and shells in various organisms. Biomineralization involves the controlled deposition of minerals, often involving organic molecules that regulate the mineralization process.
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10 Key excerpts on "Biomineralization"
eBook - PDF- Patricia M. Dove, James J. De Yoreo, Steve Weiner(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
1 An Overview of Biomineralization Processes and the Problem of the Vital Effect Steve Weiner Department of Structural Biology Weizmann Institute of Science 76100 Rehovot Israel Patricia M. Dove Department of GeoSciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 U.S.A. Biomineralization links soft organic tissues, which are compositionally akin to the atmosphere and oceans, with the hard materials of the solid Earth. It provides organisms with skeletons and shells while they are alive, and when they die these are deposited as sediment in environments from river plains to the deep ocean floor. It is also these hard, resistant products of life which are mainly responsible for the Earth's fossil record. Consequently, Biomineralization involves biologists, chemists, and geologists in interdisciplinary studies at one of the interfaces between Earth and life. (Leadbeater and Riding 1986) INTRODUCTION Biomineralization refers to the processes by which organisms form minerals. The control exerted by many organisms over mineral formation distinguishes these processes from abiotic mineralization. The latter was the primary focus of earth scientists over the last century, but the emergence of biogeochemistry and the urgency of understanding the past and future evolution of the Earth are moving biological mineralization to the forefront of various fields of science, including the earth sciences. The growth in biogeochemistry has led to a number of new exciting research areas where the distinctions between the biological, chemical, and earth sciences disciplines melt away. Of the wonderful topics that are receiving renewed attention, the study of biomineral formation is perhaps the most fascinating. Truly at the interface of earth and life, Biomineralization is a discipline that is certain to see major advancements as a new generation of scientists brings cross-disciplinary training and new experimental and computational methods to the most daunting problems.
eBook - PDF- Raz Jelinek(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
5 Biomineralization Biomineralization encompasses broad and diverse natural phenomena that have long fascinated scientists and lay people, and has been harnessed for human use since the early days of civilization. Indeed, the concept in which organisms use bio-molecules and biological substances to assemble organized inorganic scaffolds has been exploited by mankind from prehistoric times, including the attraction to gems (natural and synthetic), tissue engineering applications involving hard tissues like bone, development of custom-made functional biomaterials containing inorganic substances, and others. Considering the wide scope of Biomineralization research, this chapter focuses primarily on biomimetic aspects of this field. One of the most striking aspects of Biomineralization is the considerable variety of structures, morphologies, and shapes of materials produced. This diversity is related to the underlying molecular mechanisms of Biomineralization phenomena. Specifically, the combination of directed crystal growth occurring at biomolecular interfaces, recruitment of various organic and inorganic building blocks by many organisms, and the specific conditions of the aqueous solution environments, all entail distinct cooperative properties which result in the broad range of biomineral-ized structures observed in nature. Biomineralization exhibits attractive features from a materials science stand-point. Most Biomineralization processes are based on peptides and proteins which initiate and direct crystallization of inorganic structures. This implies that such pro-cesses generally take place in mild conditions (in terms of pH, temperature, solution composition, etc.) in which most proteins function. Accordingly, mimicking biomin-eralization events could open new materials synthesis routes precluding the need for elevated temperatures and pressure or usage of environmentally-harmful solvents.
eBook - PDFBiomimetics
A Molecular Perspective
- Raz Jelinek(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110709490-005 5 Biomineralization Biomineralization encompasses broad and diverse natural phenomena that have long fascinated scientists and lay people, and has been harnessed for human use since the early days of civilization. Indeed, the concept in which organisms use bio- molecules and biological substances to assemble organized inorganic scaffolds has been exploited by mankind from prehistoric times, including the attraction to gems (natural and synthetic), tissue engineering applications involving hard tissues like bone, development of custom-made functional biomaterials containing inorganic substances, and others. Considering the wide scope of Biomineralization research, this chapter focuses primarily on biomimetic aspects of this field. One of the most striking aspects of Biomineralization is the considerable variety of structures, morphologies, and shapes of materials produced. This diversity is related to the underlying molecular mechanisms of Biomineralization phenomena. Specifically, the combination of directed crystal growth occurring at biomolecular interfaces, recruitment of various organic and inorganic building blocks by many organisms, and the specific conditions of the aqueous solution environments, all entail distinct cooperative properties which result in the broad range of biomineral- ized structures observed in nature. Biomineralization exhibits attractive features from a materials science stand- point. Most Biomineralization processes are based on peptides and proteins which initiate and direct crystallization of inorganic structures. This implies that such pro- cesses generally take place in mild conditions (in terms of pH, temperature, solution composition, etc.) in which most proteins function. Accordingly, mimicking biomin- eralization events could open new materials synthesis routes precluding the need for elevated temperatures and pressure or usage of environmentally-harmful solvents.
- Elena Borisenko(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- IntechOpen(Publisher)
The research related to the Biomineralization processes is interdisciplinary and the main aim of the present review is to express and interpret results obtained by different methods and approaches. In this review we address three major topics. First, we turn back to the period before the modern Biomineralization theory, which presents several innovative hypotheses and proposes mechanisms fundamental in understanding crystal formation in the living organisms. These advanced ideas were randomly or deliberately neglected and minimized in recent Biomineralization literature, and they deserve attention. Crystallization and Materials Science of Modern Artificial and Natural Crystals 158 Next, we take up the role of different research methodologies that directly promote and address some of the pressing profiles in explanation or acceptance of unusual-usual Biomineralization processes. Third, we turn to areas that require a closer attention and a more intense effort in presenting the recent synthesis and generalization of the mineralization of the organisms. One of these is well confirmed and accepted knowledge and techniques underlying the environmentally induced Biomineralization and the influence of different extrinsic conditions on crystal formation in adult invertebrates. The area is apparently much intricate and faces an increasing difficulty in well-trained understanding of the Biomineralization related to starting-initial Biomineralization processes, the first crystals formation and growth during early embryogenesis up to the juvenile and adult organisms. Major achievements and examples of fundamental results in recent years will be presented. It depends of the personal scientific judgement whether the distinction between the basic mechanisms of the initial crystal formation and evolutionary role of these processes on the general aspects of the Biomineralization represents a real difference.
eBook - PDF- Jukka Pekka Matinlinna(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Jenny Stanford Publishing(Publisher)
Biologically controlled mineralization is a highly regulated process that produces inorganic minerals with reproducible structures and species-specific crystallographic and chemical properties. It produces inorganic minerals that have a specific biological function. Biologically controlled mineralization occurs in many unicellular creatures and many multicellular organisms. Properties of a biologically controlled inorganic mineral include uniform particle sizes, well-defined structures and compositions, high levels of spatial organization, complex morphologies, controlled aggregation, preferred crystallographic orientation, a higher-order assembly, and hierarchical structures. Dental enamel is an excellent example of a biologically controlled mineral structure. In contrast, in biologically induced mineralization, inorganic minerals are deposited by precipitation arising from secondary interactions with the surrounding environment. For example, in some green algae, calcium carbonate is precipitated from saturated calcium bicarbonate solutions by metabolic removal of CO 2 during photosynthesis. Thus the inorganic mineral can be a by-product of another reaction process. Bacteria typically carry out biologically induced mineralization. Bacteria can precipitate various inorganic minerals by passing OH – ions across their cell walls. The posteruptive secondary mineralization of dental enamel is an example of biologically induced mineralization since there is no cellular control but chemical control from the environment. The size, shape, structure, composition, and organization of the mineral particles can be poorly defined and heterogeneous. It is often dif ficult to distinguish biologically induced minerals from those produced synthetically. 61 Introduction 2.1.3 Amelogenesis Dental enamel is the most mineralized of all tissues and forms progressively over extended time periods. “Amelogenesis” is the term used for the formation of enamel.
eBook - ePubBiological Inorganic Chemistry
A New Introduction to Molecular Structure and Function
- Robert R. Crichton(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Elsevier(Publisher)
We now recognise that, while much of biology relies on inorganic structures, biominerals, to supply the tensile strength and the other material properties that we associate with, for example, bone, the diversity of form and shape depends on the organic matrix in which the biomineral is allowed to form. It is a little like the construction of buildings with reinforced concrete – the mould determines in what shape and form the concrete will set. And it is just so in biomineralisation – the organic mould is the organic matrix in which the process of selective precipitation of the inorganic mineral to be formed is directed, indeed, one might even say orchestrated, by the organic component.Calcium is probably the most widely distributed element in biominerals, particularly in the “hard parts” of organisms, like teeth and bones. With the recognition that numerous minerals based on a great number of cations (among which figure Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn) as hydroxides, oxides, sulfides, sulfates, carbonates, and phosphates, the more restrictive term ‘calcification’ has given way to the more global ‘biomineralisation’.Principles of Solid-State Biological Inorganic Chemistry
Biomineralisation is the study of processes that lead to the formation of hierarchically structured organic−inorganic materials generated by living organisms, such as shells, bone, and teeth. Over the last few decades, our ability to identify the often large number of macromolecules involved in the process of biomineralisation and the interactions between them has grown and expanded.As we begin to unravel the mechanisms by which biominerals are produced, more recently efforts have been directed to replicating key fabrication strategies and structural features into materials design. In this introductory section, we present a brief account of the principles involved in the formation of biominerals or if you prefer, the rules of thumb which govern the deposition of solid-state inorganic material.We can consider three broad classifications of biominerals as a function of their morphology. (i) Amorphous minerals are most morphologically flexible biominerals – since they have no preferred form, they can be readily molded to give the desired shape of product. They are found extensively distributed in the silicaceous diatoms and radiolaria. (ii) Polycrystalline biominerals also have a wide range of morphologies, and their small crystalline building blocks can be readily organised to give complex forms. (iii) Single crystals might a priori be expected to be geometric objects defined by regular, planar faces, where the external form is a reflection of the internal symmetry of the crystal lattice. In contrast, biological mineralisation can yield single crystals whose morphologies have no relation to their crystallographic structure.
eBook - PDF- Anne George(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- IntechOpen(Publisher)
So in this chapter, particular emphasis is placed on what has been accomplished in the research on both the biomimetic mineralization of calcium carbonate under a protein, especially bovine serum albumin (BSA) Langmuir monolayer and the novel biomimetic interface system named dual-template approach in which the inorganic materials are grown under a Langmuir monolayer in the presence of kinetic control generated from ammonia diffusion. 2. Biomineralization and biomimetic mineralization of calcium carbonate under a protein Langmuir monolayer 2.1 Biomineralization and biominerals Biomineralization is the process by which living organisms secrete inorganic minerals in an organized fashion with exceptional physical properties, by virtue of finely controlled microstructure, morphology, and hierarchical organization of the minerals and accompanying organic material (DiMasi, et al., 2003; Xu, et al., 2007). It is already a rather old process in the development of life, which was adapted by living beings probably at the end of the Precambrian more than 500 million years ago (Wood, et al., 2002). There are more than 60 biologically formed minerals identified, examples include iron and gold deposits in bacteria and other unicellular organisms, silicates in algae and diatoms, carbonates in diatoms and nonvertebrates, and calcium phosphates and carbonates in vertebrates (Boskey, 2003). Biominerals formed through Biomineralization process are highly optimized materials with remarkable structural features and functional properties, which attracted a lot of recent attention. Fig. 2 shows three kinds of typical biominerals: combination coccosphere (a), the silica wall of the marine benthic diatom Amphora coffeaeformis (b), and a part of the skeleton of a brittlestar Ophiocoma wendtii (c).
eBook - ePubDynamic Aquaria
Building Living Ecosystems
- Walter H. Adey, Karen Loveland(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Halimeda below. Mostly, however, Biomineralization is under some direct control (and at some energy expenditure) of the organisms involved, as is the case for most skeletal hard parts, such as vertebrate bone, mollusc shells, and a wide variety of tooth-like structures.THE PROCESS OF Biomineralization
Control of the production of hard parts by an organism involves two key elements:1. The enclosure of a very small volume of water by tissues, cells, a membrane-bound vacuole, or a macromolecular sheath produced by the organism. This space can be totally surrounded by organic material or it can be created against a substrate or an already formed mineral base.2. The capability of bounding cellular membranes to pump ions (typically Mg2+ , Ca2+ , Si4+ ,CO 3,2 −PO 4, H1 , etc.).2 −The enclosure of the mineralization space allows the membrane-pumping function to build up high concentrations, generally greatly supersaturated, of the appropriate mineral components. The ion pumping capabilities of phospholipid membranes are well known (Figure 10.1 ) and are typically the subject of whole chapters in modern biochemical texts (e.g. Mathews and van Holde, 1996 ). Typically, the pore of an ion-channel is formed by a protein, embedded in the phospholipid membrane, and, especially in plants, the structure and rapid function of these channels have been extensively studied (Heldt, 2005 ). Some ion-channels pump ions to create an electrical gradient (e.g. the strong pH gradient between stroma and thylakoid in photosynthesis; see Chapter 5
eBook - ePubBio-Nanomaterials
Designing Materials Inspired by Nature
- Wolfgang Pompe, Gerhard Rödel, Hans-Jürgen Weiss, Michael Mertig(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley-VCH(Publisher)
coupling of the biological structures with metabolic processes of living cells . This high complexity of Biomineralization is also the reason for its fascinating structural richness.When trying to analyze a complex problem, it is always useful to separate it, if possible, into partial problems that can be approached with simpler theoretical models. However, one has to keep in mind that understanding of the parts does not necessarily mean understanding of the whole.In the following, we will try to classify the mineralization processes into categories, depending on the impact of biomolecular structures on the product phase. Processes that mainly follow the classical chemical synthesis route go here under biologically mediated mineralization . If nucleation, final structure, shape, and size of the mineral depend mainly on biologically induced environmental conditions , we speak of biologically induced mineralization . This is the case when a biopolymer affects crystal growth, for example, by site-specific adsorption.Biologically induced mineralization usually concerns by-products of metabolic processes. If the mineral is unique in structure, shape, and size, the process is called biologically controlled mineralization . In this type of process, the mineral is the product of a reproducible biological synthesis with specific crystallochemical properties .Biologically induced mineralization and biologically controlled mineralization differ with respect to their result: Size, shape, structure, and composition of the mineral particles vary with the former, but are highly uniform with the latter. Biologically controlled mineralization produces structures of high complexity such as the distribution of calcium phosphate nanocrystals in bone or the calcium carbonate crystal distribution in mollusc shells.
eBook - PDFBiomineralization
From Nature to Application, Volume 4
- Astrid Sigel, Helmut Sigel, Roland K. O. Sigel, Astrid Sigel, Helmut Sigel, Roland K. O. Sigel(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
A second class of mineralized tissues, bone and dentin being prominent examples, has mineral and organic phase in comparable quantities. These tissues are particularly fracture-resistant. In addition, many organic tissues with mechanical function (plants, for example) have small contents of inorganic mineral (such as silica). These examples will not be addressed here. This chapter shortly reviews the hierarchical structure of some biomineralized tissues, with the examples of a glass sponge skeleton, a nearly fully inorganic material, and of bone, a tissue containing about equal volumes of organic and inorganic phase. Further details, including also fully organic hierarchical tissues, such as tendon or wood, can be found in a recent review [28]. Moreover, the chapter discusses some recent ideas about how fracture might be controlled by the hierarchical structure of biomineralized tissues. Generally, the variety of these structural features and their adaptation to the functional, in particular mechanical, needs of the biomineralized tissues makes them an ideal subject of study for biomimetic materials research [29,30]. 2. GROWTH, SELF-REPAIR, AND STRUCTURAL HIERARCHIES The mechanical design of biomineralized tissues is determined by the fact that these materials are growing rather than being fabricated. Indeed, growth is an open process which can be influenced by the external conditions including temperature, mechanical loading, and supply of light, water or nutrition. A major consequence for the living organism is its capacity of adaptation to external needs. It is not the exact design of the organ that is stored in the genes, but a recipe to build it. This means that the final result is obtained by an algorithm rather than by copying an exact design. The advantage of this approach is that it Met. Ions Life Sci. 2008 , 4 , 547–575
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