Organization and Formation of the Crossed-Foliated Biomineral Microstructure of Limpet Shells
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
American Chemical Society
Materia
Biomineralization Molluscs Calcite
Date
2023-11-22Referencia bibliográfica
Katarzyna Berent, Marta Gajewska, and Antonio G. Checa. Organization and Formation of the Crossed-Foliated Biomineral Microstructure of Limpet Shells. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering. 2023. 9 (12), 6658-6669 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c00928
Sponsorship
Project PID2020116660GB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ (“FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa”); Projects OPUS 15 no. UMO- 2018/29/B/ST8/02200 of the National Science Center of Poland; Unidad Científica de Excelencia UCE-PP2016-05 of the University of Granada; Research Group RNM363 of the Junta de Andalucía; Funding for open access was provided by Universidad de Granada/ Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Andalucía (CBUA)Abstract
To construct their shells, molluscs are able to produce a
large array of calcified materials including granular, prismatic, lamellar,
fibrous, foliated, and plywood-like microstructures. The latter includes an
aragonitic (the crossed-lamellar) and a calcitic (the crossed-foliated)
variety, whose modes of formation are particularly enigmatic. We studied
the crossed-foliated calcitic layers secreted solely by members of the
limpet family Patellidae using scanning and transmission electron
microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. From the exterior to
the interior, the material becomes progressively organized into
commarginal first-order lamellae, with second and third order lamellae
dipping in opposite directions in alternating lamellae. At the same time,
the crystallographic texture becomes stronger because each set of the first
order lamellae develops a particular orientation for the c-axis, while both
sets maintain common orientations for one {104} face (parallel to the
growth surface) and one a-axis (perpendicular to the planes of the first order lamellae). Each first order lamella shows a progressive
migration of its crystallographic axes with growth in order to adapt to the orientation of the set of first order lamellae to which it
belongs. To explain the progressive organization of the material, we hypothesize that a secretional zebra pattern, mirrored by the first
order lamellae on the shell growth surface, is developed on the shell-secreting mantle surface. Cells belonging to alternating stripes
behave differently to determine the growth orientation of the laths composing the first order lamellae. In this way, we provide an
explanation as to how plywood-like materials can be fabricated, which is based mainly on the activity of mantle cells.