The Magellania venosa Biomineralizing Proteome: A Window into Brachiopod Shell Evolution.

ABSTRACT: Brachiopods are a lineage of invertebrates well known for the breadth and depth of their fossil record. Although the quality of this fossil record attracts the attention of paleontologists, geochemists, and paleoclimatologists, modern day brachiopods are also of interest to evolutionary biologists due to their potential to address a variety of questions ranging from developmental biology to biomineralization. The brachiopod shell is a composite material primarily composed of either calcite or calcium phosphate in close association with proteins and polysaccharides which give these composite structures their material properties. The information content of these biomolecules, sequestered within the shell during its construction, has the potential to inform hypotheses focused on describing ho

SUBMITTER: Jackson DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4453069 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature