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Formation of giant spicules in the deep-sea hexactinellid Monorhaphis chuni (Schulze 1904): electron-microscopic and biochemical studies

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Abstract

The siliceous sponge Monorhaphis chuni (Hexactinellida) synthesizes the largest biosilica structures on earth (3 m). Scanning electron microscopy has shown that these spicules are regularly composed of concentrically arranged lamellae (width: 3–10 μm). Between 400 and 600 lamellae have been counted in one giant basal spicule. An axial canal (diameter: ~2 μm) is located in the center of the spicules; it harbors the axial filament and is surrounded by an axial cylinder (100–150 μm) of electron-dense homogeneous silica. During dissolution of the spicules with hydrofluoric acid, the axial filament is first released followed by the release of a proteinaceous tubule. Two major proteins (150 kDa and 35 kDa) have been visualized, together with a 24-kDa protein that cross-reacts with antibodies against silicatein. The spicules are surrounded by a collagen net, and the existence of a hexactinellidan collagen gene has been demonstrated by cloning it from Aphrocallistes vastus. During the axial growth of the spicules, silicatein or the silicatein-related protein is proposed to become associated with the surface of the spicules and to be finally internalized through the apical opening to associate with the axial filament. Based on the data gathered here, we suggest that, in the Hexactinellida, the growth of the spicules is mediated by silicatein or by a silicatein-related protein, with the orientation of biosilica deposition being controlled by lectin and collagen.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Ms. E. Sehn (Zoological Institute, University of Mainz, Germany) for valuable technical assistance. Material was provided by Dr. D. Bernhard (Zoological Institute, University of Leipzig, Germany), Dr. C. Lüter (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany), Prof. Dr. R. Kinzelbach (Zoological Institute, University of Rostock, Germany), and Dr. K. Tabachnick (Institute of Oceanology, Moscow, Russia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Abteilung Angewandte Molekularbiologie, Universität Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Werner E. G. Müller, Carsten Eckert, Klaus Kropf, Ute Schloßmacher, Christopf Seckert & Heinz C. Schröder

  2. National Research Center for Geoanalysis, 26 Baiwanzhuang Dajie, 100037, Beijing, China

    Xiaohong Wang

  3. Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Universität Mainz, Duesbergweg 10–14, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Stephan E. Wolf & Wolfgang Tremel

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  1. Werner E. G. Müller
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  2. Carsten Eckert
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  9. Heinz C. Schröder
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Correspondence to Werner E. G. Müller.

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Carsten Eckert was previously with the Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.

The collagen sequence from Aphrocallistes vastus reported here, viz., [COL_APHRO] APHVACOL (accession number AM411124), has been deposited in the EMBL/GenBank data base.

This work was supported by grants from the European Commission, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung Germany (project: Center of Excellence BIOTECmarin), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 50402023), and the International Human Frontier Science Program.

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Müller, W.E.G., Eckert, C., Kropf, K. et al. Formation of giant spicules in the deep-sea hexactinellid Monorhaphis chuni (Schulze 1904): electron-microscopic and biochemical studies. Cell Tissue Res 329, 363–378 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0402-x

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