title: Amorphous layer around aragonite platelets in nacre.
abstract: We reveal that the aragonite CaCO3 platelets in nacre of Haliotis laevigata are covered with a continuous layer of disordered amorphous CaCO3 and that there is no protein interaction with this layer. This finding contradicts classical paradigms of biomineralization, e.g., an epitaxial match between the structural organic matrix and the formed mineral. This finding also highlights the role of physicochemical effects in morphogenesis, complementing the previously assumed total control by biomolecules and bioprocesses, with many implications in nanotechnology and materials science.
authors.affiliation: Colloid Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Research Campus Golm, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany. nadine.nassif@mpikg.mpg.de
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nassif
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pinna
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gehrke
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antonietti
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cölfen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008974:Mollusca / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate