SUPRAMOLECULAR ASSEMBLIES |
A MESOPOROUS PATTERN CREATED BY NATURE IN
SPICULES FROM THETYA AURANTIUM SPONGE
Gianluca Croce 1*, Davide Viterbo 1, Marco Milanesio 1 and Heinz Amenitsch 2
1 Università Piemonte Orientale
2 Institute of Biophysics and Nanosystems Research
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gianluca.croce{at}mfn.unipmn.it.
Submitted on August 3, 2006
Revised on August 25, 2006
Accepted on 8 September 2006
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Abstract |
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Siliceous or carbonate spicules provide support and defence to marine sponges. The inorganic envelope usually embodies a protein core. The present SAXS study of the siliceous spicules from the demosponge Thetya aurantium proves the very ordered structure assumed by the protein core inside the spicules. Indeed, not only the very sharp diffraction spots already found in previous studies on spicules from different sponges are confirmed, but also the 11 sharp spots in the diffraction pattern recorded after thermal treatment at 250°C can only be interpreted in terms of a natural nano-composite mesostructure with an hexagonal lattice formed by a three-dimensional periodic arrangement of silica cages in which the protein units act as structure directing agent.
Key Words:
SAXS, biomineralization, porous materials
