The Role of Heavy Metals in Biomaterials

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Inorganic building materials have shaped the evolution of groups such as mollusks and vertebrates. The evolutionary importance of the calcium minerals in the shells and skeletons of these organisms and the iron and silicon minerals employed in, for example, mollusc teeth and the skeletons of radiolarians is well understood. In contrast, the significance of heavy metals in structural material is, at present, unexplored. Heavy metals are found widely in the business ends of the jaws, claws and other "tools" of many arthropods and worms. These structures may contain up to 25% (by mass) of uncommon heavy metals such as zinc, manganese and copper. The PIs propose to begin to study the form, function and physiology of this material. The microscopic form of this material will be investigated using electron microscopy. In order to establish a possible function, the PIs will test mechanical properties of this material using atomic force microscopy. Finally, the PIs will use high- energy ion microscopy to begin studying the physiology of this phenomenon by tracking the distribution of zinc through the metamorphosis of ants. The research proposed here will thus be first steps in understanding this wide-spread biological phenomenon with unknown but potentially important significance in the biology, ecology and the evolutionary history of these organisms.