Search results for "Silicate"
showing 10 items of 413 documents
Sponge biosilica formation involves syneresis following polycondensation in vivo.
2011
Syneresis is a process observed during the maturation/aging of silica gels obtained by sol-gel synthesis that results in shrinkage and expulsion of water due to a rearrangement and increase in the number of bridging siloxane bonds. Here we describe how the process of biosilica deposition during spicule ("biosilica" skeleton of the siliceous sponges) formation involves a phase of syneresis that occurs after the enzyme-mediated polycondensation reaction. Primmorphs from the demosponge Suberites domuncula were used to study syneresis and the inhibition of this mechanism. We showed by scanning electron microscopy that spicules added to primmorphs that have been incubated with manganese sulfate …
Selenium affects biosilica formation in the demosponge Suberites domuncula
2005
Selenium is a trace element found in freshwater and the marine environment. We show that it plays a major role in spicule formation in the demosponge Suberites domuncula. If added to primmorphs, an in vitro sponge cell culture system, it stimulates the formation of siliceous spicules. Using differential display of transcripts, we demonstrate that, after a 72-h exposure of primmorphs to selenium, two genes are up-regulated; one codes for selenoprotein M and the other for a novel spicule-associated protein. The deduced protein sequence of selenoprotein M (14 kDa) shows characteristic features of metazoan selenoproteins. The spicule-associated protein (26 kDa) comprises six characteristic repe…
Evagination of Cells Controls Bio-Silica Formation and Maturation during Spicule Formation in Sponges
2011
The enzymatic-silicatein mediated formation of the skeletal elements, the spicules of siliceous sponges starts intracellularly and is completed extracellularly. With Suberites domuncula we show that the axial growth of the spicules proceeds in three phases: (I) formation of an axial canal; (II) evagination of a cell process into the axial canal, and (III) assembly of the axial filament composed of silicatein. During these phases the core part of the spicule is synthesized. Silicatein and its substrate silicate are stored in silicasomes, found both inside and outside of the cellular extension within the axial canal, as well as all around the spicule. The membranes of the silicasomes are inte…
Crystalline nanorods as possible templates for the synthesis of amorphous biosilica during spicule formation in Demospongiae.
2009
In tandem: High-resolution TEM shows that during the initial stages of demosponge spicule formation, a primordial crystalline structure is formed within the axial filament. The recently developed electron diffraction tomography technique (ADT) reveals that the nanorods have a layered structure that matches smectitic phyllosilicates. These intracellular nanorods have been considered as precursors of mature spicules. High-resolution microscopy shows that, during the initial stages of demosponge spicule formation, a primordial crystalline structure is formed within the axial filament. The recently developed electron diffraction tomography technique reveals that the nanorods have a layered stru…
Silicateins - A Novel Paradigm in Bioinorganic Chemistry: Enzymatic Synthesis of Inorganic Polymeric Silica
2013
The inorganic matrix of the siliceous skeletal elements of sponges, that is, spicules, is formed of amorphous biosilica. Until a decade ago, it remained unclear how the hard biosilica monoliths of the spicules are formed in sponges that live in a silica-poor (<50 mu m) aquatic environment. The following two discoveries caused a paradigm shift and allowed an elucidation of the processes underlying spicule formation; first the discovery that in the spicules only one major protein, silicatein, exists and second, that this protein displays a bio-catalytical, enzymatic function. These findings caused a paradigm shift, since silicatein is the first enzyme that catalyzes the formation of an inorga…
Silica-protein composite layers of the giant basal spicules from Monorhaphis: Basis for their mechanical stability
2010
The hexactinellid sponge Monorhaphis chuni possesses with its giant basal spicules the largest biosilica structure on Earth. The approximately 8.5-mm-thick spicules are composed of up to 800 lamellae. By application of high-resolution electron microscopy (HR-SEM), it is shown that within the siliceous lamellae a proteinaceous scaffold exists which is composed of one protein of a size of 27 kDa. Analyses with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) emission and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy support this localization of the protein. No evidence for the presence of protein on the surfaces of the lamellae could be obtained. Heating the giant basal spicule to 600 °C destroys and eliminat…
Axial growth of hexactinellid spicules: Formation of cone-like structural units in the giant basal spicules of the hexactinellid Monorhaphis
2008
The glass sponge Monorhaphis chuni (Porifera: Hexactinellida) forms the largest bio-silica structures on Earth; their giant basal spicules reach sizes of up to 3 m and diameters of 8.5 mm. Previously, it had been shown that the thickness growth proceeds by appositional layering of individual lamellae; however, the mechanism for the longitudinal growth remained unstudied. Now we show, that the surface of the spicules have towards the tip serrated relief structures that are consistent in size and form with the protrusions on the surface of the spicules. These protrusions fit into the collagen net that surrounds the spicules. The widths of the individual lamellae do not show a pronounced size …
Formation of spicules by sclerocytes from the freshwater spongeEphydatia muelleri in short-term cultures in vitro
1995
Cells from the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri were isolated by dissociating hatching gemmules. During the first 24 h the cells reaggregated, but the aggregates progressively disintegrated again to single cells, among which the spicule-forming sclerocytes were recognized. Such cultures were used to study spicule (megascleres) formation in vitro. The isolated sclerocytes formed the organic central axial filament onto which they deposited inorganic silicon. The size of the spicules (200 to 350 microns in length) as well as the rate of spicule formation (1 to 10 microns/h) under in vitro conditions were similar to the values measured in vivo. Immediately after completion of spicule format…
Investigation of Temperature-Induced Phase Transitions in DOPC and DPPC Phospholipid Bilayers Using Temperature-Controlled Scanning Force Microscopy
2004
Under physiological conditions, multicomponent biological membranes undergo structural changes which help define how the membrane functions. An understanding of biomembrane structure-function relations can be based on knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of pure phospholipid bilayers. Here, we have investigated phase transitions in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayers. We demonstrated the existence of several phase transitions in DPPC and DOPC mica-supported bilayers by both atomic force microscopy imaging and force measurements. Supported DPPC bilayers show a broad L(beta)-L(alpha) transition. In addition to the main transition …
Fe-periclase reactivity at Earth's lower mantle conditions: Ab-initio geochemical modelling
2017
Intrinsic and extrinsic stability of the (Mg, Fe) O solid mixture in the Fe-Mg-Si-O system at high P, T conditions relevant to the Earth's mantle is investigated by the combination of quantum mechanical calculations (Hartree-26 Fock/DFT hybrid scheme), cluster expansion techniques and statistical thermodynamics. Iron in the (Mg, Fe) O binary mixture is assumed to be either in the low spin (LS) or in the high spin (HS) state. Un-mixing at solid state is observed only for the LS condition in the 23-42 GPa pressure range, whereas HS does not give rise to un-mixing. LS (Mg, Fe) O un-mixings are shown to be able to incorporate iron by subsolidus reactions with a reservoir of a virtual bridgmanit…