Protein-and peptide-directed syntheses of inorganic materials

MB Dickerson, KH Sandhage, RR Naik - Chemical reviews, 2008‏ - ACS Publications
The course of evolution on our planet has resulted in the appearance, diversification, and
proliferation of organisms capable of producing complex structures from hard inorganic …

Nutrient fluxes through sponges: biology, budgets, and ecological implications

M Maldonado, M Ribes, FC van Duyl - Advances in marine biology, 2012‏ - Elsevier
Marine sponges are able to process a variety of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P),
and silicon (Si) dissolved compounds, in addition to the particulate C, N, and P obtained …

Silicatein filaments and subunits from a marine sponge direct the polymerization of silica and silicones in vitro

JN Cha, K Shimizu, Y Zhou… - Proceedings of the …, 1999‏ - National Acad Sciences
Nanoscale control of the polymerization of silicon and oxygen determines the structures and
properties of a wide range of siloxane-based materials, including glasses, ceramics …

Fibre-optical features of a glass sponge

VC Sundar, AD Yablon, JL Grazul, M Ilan, J Aizenberg - Nature, 2003‏ - nature.com
Modern technology cannot yet compete with some of the sophisticated optical systems
possessed by biological organisms,,. Here we show that the spicules of the deep-sea'glass' …

Biological glass fibers: correlation between optical and structural properties

J Aizenberg, VC Sundar, AD Yablon… - Proceedings of the …, 2004‏ - National Acad Sciences
Biological systems have, through the course of time, evolved unique solutions for complex
optical problems. These solutions are often achieved through a sophisticated control of fine …

Hierarchical assembly of the siliceous skeletal lattice of the hexactinellid sponge Euplectella aspergillum

JC Weaver, J Aizenberg, GE Fantner, D Kisailus… - Journal of structural …, 2007‏ - Elsevier
Despite its inherent mechanical fragility, silica is widely used as a skeletal material in a great
diversity of organisms ranging from diatoms and radiolaria to sponges and higher plants. In …

The biology of glass sponges

SP Leys, GO Mackie, HM Reiswig - Advances in marine biology, 2007‏ - Elsevier
As the most ancient extant metazoans, glass sponges (Hexactinellida) have attracted recent
attention in the areas of molecular evolution and the evolution of conduction systems but …

Chitin nanostructures in living organisms

RAA Muzzarelli - Chitin: Formation and diagenesis, 2011‏ - Springer
In living organisms, chitin synthase present in chitosomes promotes the polymerization of N-
acetylglucosamine, then the native chitin is assembled into nanocrystals. The latter cluster …

Biofabrication of biosilica-glass by living organisms

HC Schröder, X Wang, W Tremel, H Ushijima… - Natural product …, 2008‏ - pubs.rsc.org
Covering: up to 2007 Biosilicification is an evolutionarily old and widespread type of
biomineralization both in unicellular and multicellular organisms, including sponges …

Trophic interactions within the Ross Sea continental shelf ecosystem

WO Smith Jr, DG Ainley… - … Transactions of the …, 2007‏ - royalsocietypublishing.org
The continental shelf of the Ross Sea is one of the Antarctic's most intensively studied
regions. We review the available data on the region's physical characteristics (currents and …