TY - JOUR
T1 - Macromolecular sheets direct the morphology and orientation of plate-like biogenic guanine crystals
AU - Wagner, Avital
AU - Upcher, Alexander
AU - Maria, Raquel
AU - Magnesen, Thorolf
AU - Zelinger, Einat
AU - Raposo, Graça
AU - Palmer, Benjamin A.
N1 - Funding Information: We thank Profs. Steve Weiner, Lia Addadi, and Michael S. Marks for stimulating discussions on this project. We acknowledge Alexey Tachlytski from Zeiss for his instruction regarding STEM operation and Tally Kossovsky from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for her guidance and training on microtome operation. We acknowledge Lee Shelly for photographing the juvenile scallops (insert Fig. 1a). We acknowledge Dr. Ivo Zizak and the BESSY II synchrotron, Helmholtz–Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Germany, for the provision of synchrotron time at the µ spot beamline. A.W. is grateful to the Azrieli Foundation for the award of an Azrieli Graduate Fellowship 2022/23. B.A.P. is the Nahum Guzik Presidential Recruit and the recipient of the 2019 Azrieli Faculty Fellowship. This work was supported by an ERC Starting Grant (Grant number: 852948, “CRYSTALEYES”) awarded to B.A.P. Funding Information: We thank Profs. Steve Weiner, Lia Addadi, and Michael S. Marks for stimulating discussions on this project. We acknowledge Alexey Tachlytski from Zeiss for his instruction regarding STEM operation and Tally Kossovsky from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for her guidance and training on microtome operation. We acknowledge Lee Shelly for photographing the juvenile scallops (insert Fig. ). We acknowledge Dr. Ivo Zizak and the BESSY II synchrotron, Helmholtz–Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Germany, for the provision of synchrotron time at the µspot beamline. A.W. is grateful to the Azrieli Foundation for the award of an Azrieli Graduate Fellowship 2022/23. B.A.P. is the Nahum Guzik Presidential Recruit and the recipient of the 2019 Azrieli Faculty Fellowship. This work was supported by an ERC Starting Grant (Grant number: 852948, “CRYSTALEYES”) awarded to B.A.P. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Animals precisely control the morphology and assembly of guanine crystals to produce diverse optical phenomena in coloration and vision. However, little is known about how organisms regulate crystallization to produce optically useful morphologies which express highly reflective crystal faces. Guanine crystals form inside iridosome vesicles within chromatophore cells called iridophores. By following iridosome formation in developing scallop eyes, we show that pre-assembled, fibrillar sheets provide an interface for nucleation and direct the orientation of the guanine crystals. The macromolecular sheets cap the (100) faces of immature guanine crystals, inhibiting growth along the π-stacking growth direction. Crystal growth then occurs preferentially along the sheets to generate highly reflective plates. Despite their different physical properties, the morphogenesis of iridosomes bears a striking resemblance to melanosome morphogenesis in vertebrates, where amyloid sheets template melanin deposition. The common control mechanisms for melanin and guanine formation inspire new approaches for manipulating the morphologies and properties of molecular materials.
AB - Animals precisely control the morphology and assembly of guanine crystals to produce diverse optical phenomena in coloration and vision. However, little is known about how organisms regulate crystallization to produce optically useful morphologies which express highly reflective crystal faces. Guanine crystals form inside iridosome vesicles within chromatophore cells called iridophores. By following iridosome formation in developing scallop eyes, we show that pre-assembled, fibrillar sheets provide an interface for nucleation and direct the orientation of the guanine crystals. The macromolecular sheets cap the (100) faces of immature guanine crystals, inhibiting growth along the π-stacking growth direction. Crystal growth then occurs preferentially along the sheets to generate highly reflective plates. Despite their different physical properties, the morphogenesis of iridosomes bears a striking resemblance to melanosome morphogenesis in vertebrates, where amyloid sheets template melanin deposition. The common control mechanisms for melanin and guanine formation inspire new approaches for manipulating the morphologies and properties of molecular materials.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147350917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-35894-6
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-35894-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 36737617
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 14
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 589
ER -