Themed collection Advanced imaging techniques in biomineralisation research

These four half-days of Faraday Discussions highlighted the wide range of physical techniques available to image the diversity and complexity of biominerals, in several natural models and in vitro systems.

We developed an analytical description and procedures for numerically calculating the low-dose detection limits for thin crystals embedded in a thick matrix, particularly relevant for cryo-electron microscopy experiments.

3D investigation of the crystalline properties of a mollusc shell biomineral evidences a strain–size relationship of the individual coherent domains.

In Hong Kong oysters, EBSD-based material characterisation of shells reveals a progressive increase in crystal grain size throughout ontogeny giving insights into early development of an ecologically and commercially important species.

We evaluate the capabilities of various IR spectroscopy techniques using mollusk shells, for which non-IR data are available.

This retrospective review focuses on two case studies that exemplify the non-classical features of biominerals, mollusk nacre for invertebrates, and bone for vertebrates, and how correlations with in vitro model systems helped unravel these features.

Multimodal imaging techniques at X-ray nanoprobe beamlines at synchrotrons are applied to the observation of calcium phosphate mineralisation and the exploration of the organic and mineral content of Mytilus edulis mussel shell calcite prisms.

Herein, we use synchrotron micro-computed tomography to capture the three-dimensional architecture of the skeletal stereom in sea urchins for morphological quantification.

Orientation (top) map and fluorescence map for a full mouse femur bone, showing the variation across the bone.

The fibrillar surface chemistry of the biomimetic peptide (P₁₁-4) controls and accelerates the initial kinetics of amorphous calcium phosphate deposition in the absence of 3D confinement (gel network).

We use the technique of atom probe tomography to reveal the chemistry at the nanoscale of biominerals in shark teeth.

Synchrotron scanning X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence microscopy map nanocrystal properties in bovine fibrolamellar bone to provide insights into biomineralization.

Using advanced microscopy methods, we show the effects of upregulated osteopontin on the microscale morphogenesis and potential crystallinity of ripening mineral foci during bone mineralization, as a precursor to crossfibrillar mineral tessellation.

After targeting endothelial cells with in ovo intravascular antibody injection, correlative light and electron microscopy under cryogenic conditions revealed numerous vesicles containing mineral precursors within blood vessels.

Nano-scanning X-ray fluorescence microscopy images entire biomineralizing coccolithophore cells in dried condition and in a liquid cell.

We present a highly sensitive coherent Raman microscopy approach, which allows for the tridimensional (3D) imaging of a series of carbonate polymorphs in marine organisms.

We provide complementary insights into the structure and composition of the myostracum to develop new evaluation approaches to assess the effects of environmental pollutants on the crystallography and microstructure of Pecten maximus shells.

In this reflection FTIR study we scan entire teeth to achieve chemical mappings of phosphates, carbonates and amide I.

All calcified eggshells of land animals contain an organic matrix. Calcium distribution varies, with random crystal orientation in invertebrates but not vertebrates, and rare types like vaterite hint at evolutionary differences needing further study.

A model for carbonate–aspartate aqueous interface simulation was developed; the steps to develop predictive models for biomolecules in biomineralisation environments are discussed.

An innovative freeze-quench method enables the trapping and study of solute reactive intermediates via low-temperature solid-state NMR.

Juvenile bay scallops grow faster at 26 °C than at 23 °C under lab conditions, with no negative effect on shell robustness.

Lead contamination from anthropogenic pollution in the Red Sea is found only in coral tissues not in the skeleton.

Limits to the minimum concentrations of Ca and minimum number of Ca atoms that can be detected are determined for EELS in TEM using the Ca L₂₃ signal, and EDX in TEM using the Ca Kα line.

Lignin extracted from sorghum with native silicon levels have higher affinity to silicic acid as compared to lignin from low-silicon mutants. Silicic acid presence during lignin polymerization inhibits β-O-4 linkages on the expense of Si–O-4 bonds