Merging models of biomineralisation with concepts of nonclassical crystallisation: is a liquid amorphous precursor involved in the formation of the prismatic layer of the Mediterranean Fan Mussel Pinna nobilis?
Abstract
The calcitic prisms of Pinna nobilis (Pinnidae, Linnaeus 1758) are shown to be perfect examples of a mesocrystalline material. Based on their ultrastructure and on the occurrence of an amorphous transient precursor during the early stages of prism formation, we provide evidence for the pathway of mesocrystallisation proposed by Seto et al. (2012), which proceeds not by self-organized oriented attachment of crystalline nano-bricks but by aggregation of initially amorphous nanogranules which later transform by epitaxial nucleation to a three-dimensional array of well aligned
- This article is part of the themed collection: Crystallisation – A Biological Perspective