Many biomineralization systems start from transient amorphous precursor phases, but the exact crystallization pathways and mechanisms remain largely unknown. The study of a well-defined biomimetic crystallization system is key for elucidating the possible mechanisms of biomineralization and monitoring the detailed crystallization pathways. In this review, we focus on amorphous phase mediated cr...

Biominerals and biomaterials with unique microstructure are mainly consisted of organic and inorganic materials, and exhibit excellent biological and mechanical properties. The formation mechanism of biomineral indicated that the organic matrixes have an important influence on the morphology and structure of the inorganic matrix material in the process of biomineralization. However, the biomine...

Though the most ready example of biomineralization is the calcium phosphate of vertebrate bones and teeth, many bacteria are capable of creating biominerals inside their cells. Because of the diversity of these organisms and the minerals they produce, their study may reveal aspects of the fundamental mechanisms of biomineralization in more complex organisms. The best-studied case of intracellul...

Biomineralization is a complex combination of biochemical and physiological processes, depending on endogenous activity of an organism and the exogenous environmental influence. In marine organisms (bacteria, calcareous algae, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and mammals) biomineralization starts at early stages of development and continues during the entire life. These processes take place in diffe...

The conformational effects of lysine-rich peptides on the biomineralization of TiO2 were investigated. The biomineralization activity of the peptide was dependent on the spatial proximity of the amino groups, which is determined by the secondary structure.

The evolutionary history of biomineralization in animals is crucial to our understanding of modern mineralized tissues. Traditional methods of unravelling this history have aimed to derive a theory of the development of biomineralization through evolution by the comparison of mineralized systems in model organisms. This has led to the recognition of the 'biomineralization toolkit' and raised th...

UNLABELLED Magnetotactic bacteria produce chains of membrane-bound organelles that direct the biomineralization of magnetic nanoparticles. These magnetosome compartments are a model for studying the biogenesis and subcellular organization of bacterial organelles. Previous studies have suggested that discrete gene products build and assemble magnetosomes in a stepwise fashion. Here, using an ind...

Living organisms can produce inorganic materials with unique structure and properties. The biomineralization process is of great interest as it forms a source of inspiration for the development of methods for production of diverse inorganic materials under mild conditions. Nonetheless, regulation of biomineralization is still a challenging task. Magnetotactic bacteria produce chains of a prokar...

Although space delineation is a well-accepted requirement for biologically controlled biomineralization, the actual location of the mineralizing compartment within marine invertebrates has only recently been determined. We observed that the biomineralization was compartmented within the collar region of the metamorphosing larvae of Hydrodies elegans at its earliest possible time, i.e., at the p...