Spiral and target patterns in bivalve nacre manifest a natural excitable medium from layer growth of a biological liquid crystal.

ABSTRACT: Nacre is an exquisitely structured biocomposite of the calcium carbonate mineral aragonite with small amounts of proteins and the polysaccharide chitin. For many years, it has been the subject of research, not just because of its beauty, but also to discover how nature can produce such a superior product with excellent mechanical properties from such relatively weak raw materials. Four decades ago, Wada [Wada K (1966) Spiral growth of nacre. Nature 211:1427] proposed that the spiral patterns in nacre could be explained by using the theory Frank [Frank F (1949) The influence of dislocations on crystal growth. Discuss Faraday Soc 5:48-54] had put forward of the growth of crystals by means of screw dislocations. Frank's mechanism of crystal growth has been amply confirmed by experimental obse

SUBMITTER: Cartwright JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2705533 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature