Test Morphogenesis in Giant Antarctic Foraminifera

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Some types of foraminiferan protozoa produce shells composed of mineral grains tightly bound by a chemically-resistant, biological cement. During shell development, these single celled animals collect mineral grains from the sediment and secrete cement in the proper amount and location to sculpt architecturally elegant structures. The high abundance of certain giant species at an antarctic collection site makes the foraminiferan community there uniquely suited for studying specific aspects of such shell construction, and for addressing related questions concerning the evolution of the group. Studies on the development of these structures will focus on a giant one-celled species that allows the study of the secretion of cement in a cold-adapted marine organism without the complications of cell to cell and cell to tissue interactions common to multicellular animals. Studies using time-lapse videomicroscopy, light- and electron-microscopic cell chemistry and gel electrophoresis will provide information on this kind of test construction at the cellular and biochemical levels of analysis. Materials testing combined with structural modelling will characterize the mechanical properties of the cement. From a practical standpoint, this environmentally-safe cement binds immunoglobulins and has useful material properties that may have applied biotechnological or biomedical applications. Finally, molecular genetic analyses of selected species, will provide a much-needed framework for determining the evolution of this important protozoan group. This highly interdisciplinary project is made possible by new advances in biotechnology, and has both basic and applied implications for a variety of fields, including medicine, molecular pharmacology, protozoan development and evolution, paleontology, engineering, and marine products chemistry to name a few.