Abstract
Colonial radiolaria are multicellular marine protozoa (Sarcodina) that reproduce by flagellated swarmers, each containing a vacuolar-enclosed crystal of celestite (SrSO 4 ). The crystal morphology (an elongated square prism with pairs of triangular end faces) is unusual compared with crystals produced directly from solution. The crystals of radiolarian swarmers are deposited within a cytoplasmic envelope, separate from the surrounding vacuolar wall, and are subsequently enclosed by an organic coat ( ca . 500-1000 ņ thick) apparently deposited by the cytoplasmic envelope. The enclosing biological structures may account for the unusual morphology of the crystals, and offer further evidence that the process of crystallization, and ultimate crystal morphology, can be influenced markedly by surface chemistry at organo-mineral interfaces.
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Schedule a callMore From: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
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