Effect of ion and protein concentration of Ps19, a shell protein from Pteria sterna, on calcium carbonate polymorph

Abstract

Calcium carbonate is present in many biological structures such as bivalve shell, which is composed mainly of two CaCO3 polymorphs: calcite and aragonite. However, exist other forms of calcium carbonate like vaterite and amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) that are not commonly reported. Polymorph selection is influenced by salt concentration, cofactor ions, and the presence of shell matrix proteins (SMPs) which regulates calcium carbonate deposition, among other factors. In this study, calcium carbonate crystallization in vitro of four different saline solutions at two molarities was evaluated with increased concentrations of the Ps19 protein, an insoluble extracted protein from the shell of Pteria sterna, previously described as a promotor of aragonite platelet crystallization. In vitro crystallizations showed that Ps19 is capable to induce aragonite and calcite deposition in a dose-dependent manner, but also vaterite under ciertan conditions, acting as a promoter and inhibitor of crystallization. The results contribute to understand how Ps19 control precipitation of calcium polymorphs in the growth of the prismatic and nacre layer of the shell of P. sterna.