Carbonic anhydrases (CA) play an important role in biomineralization from invertebrates to vertebrates. Previous experiments have investigated the role of CA in coral calcification, mainly by pharmacological approaches. This study reports the molecular cloning, sequencing, and immunolocalization of a CA isolated from the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata, named STPCA. Results show that ...

The discovery of alternating growth bands in the skeletons massive corals led to possibility using them as environmental indicators. However, skeleton formation is result thousands polyps depositing millimeter-sized CaCO3 structures, called corallites. Nevertheless, orientation corallite trajectories and their position with respect colony could be altering information obtained from skeleton. In...

STUDIES OF BONE lWABOLISM WITH THE AID OF RADIOACTIVE STRONTIUM by D. e. JonesandD. H. Copp,M.D. January16T 1948 The kinetics of skeletal uptake and urinary excretion of radiostrontium were studied during the critieal first hour following intraperitoneal injection of a carrier-free dose. These experiments not only provided valuable data con.cerning the metabolism and fixation of this important ...

Increase in anthropogenic pCO2 alters seawater chemistry and could lead to reduced calcification or skeleton dissolution of calcifiers and thereby weaken coral-reef structure. Studies have suggested that the complex and diverse responses in stony coral growth and calcification, as a result of elevated pCO2, can be explained by the extent to which their soft tissues cover the underlying skeleton...

In corals, biocalcification is a major function that may be drastically affected by ocean acidification (OA). Scleractinian corals grow by building up aragonitic exoskeletons that provide support and protection for soft tissues. Although this process has been extensively studied, the molecular basis of biocalcification is poorly understood. Notably lacking is a comprehensive catalog of the skel...

Using the cultured chicken embryonic chondrocytes as a model, the effects of simulated microgravity on the microtubular system of the cellular skeleton, extracellular matrix, alkaline phosphatase activity, intracellular free calcium concentration and mitochondrial ATP synthase activity with its oligomycin inhibition rate were studied with a clinostat. The microtubular content was measured by a ...

Swart, P.K., 1983. Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in scleractinian corals: a review. Earth-Sci. Rev., 19: 51-80. The present theories on the fractionation of stable isotopes in scleractinian corals are critically discussed in the light of data available on primary productivity, respiration and stable isotope chemistry. These data support a model of fractionation in which the carbon and...

Cold-water corals are important habitat formers in deep-water ecosystems and at high latitudes. Ocean acidification and the resulting change in aragonite saturation are expected to affect these habitats and impact coral growth. Counter to expectations, the deep water coral Lophelia pertusa has been found to be able to sustain growth even in undersaturated conditions. However, it is important to...

THIS work is part of a comparative study of the histological and cytological distribution of alkaline phosphatase in developing teleost and elasmobranch fishes, made with a view to throwing some light on the mechanisms involved in calcification and ossification. Whereas the adult mammalian skeleton is almost completely ossified, in the lower vertebrates cartilage persists side by side with bone...

BACKGROUND Osteocalcin (OC) is an intriguing hormone, concomitantly being the most abundant non-collagenous peptide found in the mineralized matrix of bone, and expanding the endocrine function of the skeleton with far-reaching extra-osseous effects. A new line of enquiry between OC and vascular calcification has emerged in response to observations that the mechanism of vascular calcification r...