Structural aspects of the calcification process of lower vertebrate collagen

In order to investigate the structural relationship between inorganic phase and collagen fibrils in the calcified tissues of lower vertebrates we have carried out a wide and small angle X-ray diffraction investigation on carp scales and bone samples. The small angle patterns from decalcified bone and scales, as well as uncalcified tendon samples from carp are very similar to that of type I collagen from higher vertebrates. The D-axial period, 67 nm, is the same as that of higher vertebrate type I collagen, while the most significant difference is the relatively low intensity of the first order reflection, which is, however, the most intense. The relative intensity distributions of the meridional reflections recorded from fish bone and scales are in agreement with an electron density distribution according to a step function. The calculated step length is very close to the values previously reported for calcified tissues from higher vertebrates. The small angle reflections from calcified, as well as decalcified, scales display different directions of orientation, which could be in agreement with a plywood arrangement of collagen fibrils in successive sheets parallel to the plane of the scale.