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Modeling Biosilicification at Subcellular Scales

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Biomedical Inorganic Polymers

Part of the book series: Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology ((PMSB,volume 54))

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Abstract

Biosilicification occurs in many organisms. Sponges and diatoms are major examples of them. In this chapter, we introduce a modeling approach that describes several biological mechanisms controlling silicification. Modeling biosilicification is a typical multiscale problem where processes at very different temporal and spatial scales need to be coupled: processes at the molecular level, physiological processes at the subcellular and cellular level, etc. In biosilicification morphology plays a fundamental role, and a spatiotemporal model is required. In the case of sponges, a particle simulation based on diffusion-limited aggregation is presented here. This model can describe fractal properties of silica aggregates in first steps of deposition on an organic template. In the case of diatoms, a reaction–diffusion model is introduced which can describe the concentrations of chemical components and has the possibility to include polymerization chain of reactions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section Computational Science, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Narjes Javaheri, Carolina M. Cronemberger & Jaap A. Kaandorp

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  1. Narjes Javaheri
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  2. Carolina M. Cronemberger
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  3. Jaap A. Kaandorp
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Correspondence to Jaap A. Kaandorp .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. ERC Advanced Investigator Group, Institute for Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Werner E. G. Müller

  2. ERC Advanced Investigator Group, Institute for Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Xiaohong Wang

  3. ERC Advanced Investigator Group, Institute for Physiological Chemistry, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Heinz C. Schröder

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Javaheri, N., Cronemberger, C.M., Kaandorp, J.A. (2013). Modeling Biosilicification at Subcellular Scales. In: Müller, W., Wang, X., Schröder, H. (eds) Biomedical Inorganic Polymers. Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology, vol 54. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41004-8_5

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