Shaping highly regular glass architectures: A lesson from nature.

Area of Science:

• Biomineralization
• Materials Science
• Marine Biology

Background:

• Demospongiae sponges form intricate silica spicules.
• Spicule morphology displays remarkable symmetry and complexity.
• Biological glass formation mechanisms are poorly understood, unlike high-temperature synthetic methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the mechanism of silica spicule morphogenesis in Demospongiae.
• To understand how biological systems create complex glass structures.
• To identify the role of organic templates in biomineralization.

Main Methods:

• Investigated silica deposition during spicule formation.
• Analyzed the organic filament templating silica.
• Examined the protein structure and its crystallographic properties.
• Correlated filament branching with spicule morphology.

Main Results:

• Silica deposition is templated by an organic filament.
• The filament comprises enzymatically active proteins in a hexagonal crystal-like structure.
• Filament branching follows specific crystallographic directions of the protein lattice.
• This guided branching dictates the macroscale spicule morphology.

Conclusions:

• The protein lattice symmetry of the organic filament governs spicule branching.
• This biological mechanism allows for precise control over amorphous silica shaping at ambient temperatures.
• Reveals principles of biomineralization applicable to materials science.