Molecular determinants of calcitic biomineralization

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The reproducible nature of calcitic biomineralization that results in the precisely defined structural features of the avian eggshell continues to intrigue biological scientists and to concern society. Flaws in chicken eggshell fabrication are a human health and food safety issue. In Canada, about 10,000 annual cases of salmonella poisoning are due to contamination of cracked eggshells. The avian eggshell is one of the fastest calcifying processes known; 6 g of mineral is deposited upon the surface of the eggshell membranes in less than 20 hr during the daily formation of the chicken egg. My NSERC research program during past 15 years has identified protein components of the eggshell matrix that modulate calcium carbonate crystal nucleation and growth. In spite of this progress, the mechanism and molecules that regulate the initial and terminal phases of calcification are not well understood. Moreover, amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is increasingly recognized as a non-crystalline precursor to calcite in biological calcification, but there is still very little known about its possible role in eggshell mineralization.