Search results for "mollusc shell nacre"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Nacre calcification in the freshwater mussel Unio pictorum: carbonic anhydrase activity and purification of a 95 kDa calcium-binding glycoprotein.
2008
9 pages; International audience; The formation of the molluscan shell is finely tuned by macromolecules of the shell organic matrix. Previous results have shown that the acid-soluble fraction of the nacre matrix of the freshwater paleoheterodont bivalve Unio pictorum shell displays a number of remarkable properties, such as calcium-binding activity, the presence of extensive glycosylations and the capacity to interfere at low concentration with in vitro calcium carbonate precipitation. Here we have found that the nacre-soluble matrix exhibits a carbonic anhydrase activity, an important function in calcification processes. This matrix is composed of three main proteinaceous discrete fraction…
The shell matrix of the freshwater mussel Unio pictorum (Paleoheterodonta, Unionoida). Involvement of acidic polysaccharides from glycoproteins in na…
2007
13 pages; International audience; Among molluscs, the shell biomineralization process is controlled by a set of extracellular macromolecular components secreted by the calcifying mantle. In spite of several studies, these components are mainly known in bivalves from only few members of pteriomorph groups. In the present case, we investigated the biochemical properties of the aragonitic shell of the freshwater bivalve Unio pictorum (Paleoheterodonta, Unionoida). Analysis of the amino acid composition reveals a high amount of glycine, aspartate and alanine in the acid-soluble extract, whereas the acid-insoluble one is rich in alanine and glycine. Monosaccharidic analysis indicates that the in…