Silica-Based Biominerals

FIGURE 19.19 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the cell walls of four different diatom species. (From Kroger Poulson, 2008. Copyright 2008 with permission from Annual Reviews.) 

Otolith — a tiny bony structure in the inner ear of lower vertebrates. 

Silaffins (proteins with silica affinity) are a family of phosphoproteins, which are loosely associated with diatom silica two other families of cell proteins, frustulins, and pleuralins are found bound to the cell walls of diatoms. 

FIGURE 19.20 Proposed formation of light wave guiding biosiliceous nanorods by bacteria, expressing recombinant silicatein and silintaphin-1 proteins. The scaffold protein sihntaphin-1 binds and organises molecules of the enzyme silicatein that, after addition of orthosihcate, produces and assembles sihceous nanoparticles to rods. (Adapted from Muller et al, 2009.) 

Bou-Abdallah, F. (2010). The iron redox and hydrolysis chemistry of the ferritins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1800, 719—731. Crichton, R. R., Declercq, J. R (2010). X-ray structures of ferritins and related proteins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1800, 706-718. 

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