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Acidic Monosaccharides become Incorporated into Calcite Single Crystals **
Author(s) -
Lang Arad,
Mijowska Sylwia,
Polishchuk Iryna,
Fermani Simona,
Falini Giuseppe,
Katsman Alexander,
Marin Frédéric,
Pokroy Boaz
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202003344
Subject(s) - biomineralization , calcite , calcium carbonate , chemistry , monosaccharide , macromolecule , chemical engineering , crystallography , mineralogy , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
Carbohydrates, along with proteins and peptides, are known to represent a major class of biomacromolecules involved in calcium carbonate biomineralization. However, in spite of multiple physical and biochemical characterizations, the explicit role of saccharide macromolecules (long chains of carbohydrate molecules) in mineral deposition is not yet understood. In this study, we investigated the influence of two common acidic monosaccharides (MSs), the two simplest forms of acidic carbohydrates, namely glucuronic and galacturonic acids, on the formation of calcite crystals in vitro. We show here that the size, morphology, and microstructure of calcite crystals are altered when they are grown in the presence of these MSs. More importantly, these MSs were found to become incorporated into the calcite crystalline lattice and induce anisotropic lattice distortions, a phenomenon widely studied for other biomolecules related to CaCO 3 biomineralization, but never before reported in the case of single MSs. Changes in the calcite lattice induced by MSs incorporation were precisely determined by high‐resolution synchrotron powder X‐ray diffraction. We believe that the results of this research may deepen our understanding of the interaction of saccharide polymers with an inorganic host and shed light on the implications of carbohydrates for biomineralization processes.