Disordered dolomite as an unusual biomineralization product found in the center of a natural Cassis pearl

Zhou, Chunhui; Jin, Shiyun; Sun, Ziyin; Homkrajae, Artitaya; Myagkaya, Elina; Nilpetploy, Nanthaporn; Lawanwong, Kwanreun

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284295

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 41 publications

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“…Mg-bearing calcium carbonate could potentially serve as a better carbon sink by utilizing Mg 2+ cations, which are abundant in natural water. However, the occurrence of Mg-bearing carbonates in modern-day systems is incredibly rare compared to pure calcium carbonate phases and has only been occasionally reported in organisms such as corals, mollusks, , sea urchins, and ants . This limited occurrence stems from the reluctance of magnesium cations to dehydrate in low-temperature environments, inhibiting magnesium from being incorporated into carbonates with calcite structures. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Controls over Biomineral Ca–Mg Carbonate Compositions and Morphologies

Fang

Lee

et al. 2023

Crystal Growth & Design

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Calcium carbonate minerals, such as aragonite and calcite, are widespread in biomineral skeletons, shells, exoskeletons, and more. With rapidly increasing pCO 2 levels linked to anthropogenic climate change, carbonate minerals face the threat of dissolution, especially in an acidifying ocean. Given the right conditions, Ca−Mg carbonates (especially disordered dolomite and dolomite) are alternative minerals for organisms to utilize, with the added benefit of being harder and more resistant to dissolution. Ca−Mg carbonate also holds greater potential for carbon sequestration due to both Ca and Mg cations being available to bond with the carbonate group (CO 3 2−). However, Mg-bearing carbonates are relatively rare biominerals because the high kinetic energy barrier for the dehydration of the Mg 2+ −water complex severely restricts Mg incorporation in carbonates at Earth surface conditions. This work presents the first overview of the effects of the physiochemical properties of amino acids and chitins on the mineralogy, composition, and morphology of Ca−Mg carbonates in solutions and on solid surfaces. We discovered that acidic, negatively charged, hydrophilic amino acids (aspartic and glutamic) and chitins could induce the precipitation of high-magnesium calcite (HMC) and disordered dolomite in solution and on solid surfaces with these adsorbed biosubstrates via in vitro experiments. Thus, we expect that acidic amino acids and chitins are among the controlling factors in biomineralization used in different combinations to control the mineral phases, compositions, and morphologies of Ca−Mg carbonate biomineral crystals.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Controls over Biomineral Ca–Mg Carbonate Compositions and Morphologies

Fang

Lee

et al. 2023

Crystal Growth & Design

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Preparation, characterization of pearl powder and its in vivo detoxification potential for heavy metals in mice

Nawabjan,

Zhang,

G S

et al. 2025

Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

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Nineteenth Century Amorphous Calcium Carbonate

Kahr,

Sburlati,

Comes

et al. 2024

Crystal Growth & Design

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The work of the English anatomist George Rainey is compared with that of the Dutch naturalist Pieter Harting. While the latter is regarded as a pioneer in biomimetic inorganic crystallography for precipitating unusual crystallographic forms that mimic the products of living organisms, the work of Rainey largely has been forgotten. In fact, Rainey first prepared amorphous calcium carbonate, a material that can be molded by organisms to form biogenic crystals. Rainey's extensive experimentation with amorphous calcareous bodies observed in a variety of organisms was at one time considered a significant and pioneering chapter in inorganic chemical morphogenesis and it should reclaim some of its former assessments. Rainey's interpretations of crystal form and the effects of gravity on crystal growth mechanisms, however, are historical curiosities that should be left behind, except to the extent that they show how the efforts of an individual may appear diminished by the dynamic process of consensus building in science. Harting also prepared amorphous calcium carbonate, but more than a decade after Rainey. While Rainey was a quiet scholar with steady habits, Harting was a statesman, a champion of the down-trodden (albeit with prejudice), a popular educator, a temperance advocate, and a sci-fi novelist, in addition to being a professor. Harting's public life may account for his outsized place in our collective memory. Rainey's synthesis of amorphous calcium carbonate in the presence of gum arabic was repeated in a modern setting. Microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, established as hollow by X-ray microtomography, and were shown to have the composition of calcium carbonate by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. They were amorphous by powder Xray diffraction.

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Disordered dolomite as an unusual biomineralization product found in the center of a natural Cassis pearl

Cited by 3 publications

References 41 publications

Organic Controls over Biomineral Ca–Mg Carbonate Compositions and Morphologies

Organic Controls over Biomineral Ca–Mg Carbonate Compositions and Morphologies

Preparation, characterization of pearl powder and its in vivo detoxification potential for heavy metals in mice

Nineteenth Century Amorphous Calcium Carbonate

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