We show that the scaly-foot snail mediates biomineralization in its scales by supplying sulfur through channel-like columns in which reaction with iron ions diffusing inward from the surrounding vent fluid mineralizes iron sulfides.Ī rare exception among animals that possess sulfide minerals is a deep-sea snail known as the scaly-foot gastropod ( Chrysomallon squamiferum) found in hydrothermal vents on the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) in the Indian Ocean ( Fig.
Here, we reveal a biologically controlled mineralization mechanism employed by the scaly-foot snail to achieve this nanoparticle biomineralization, through δ 34 S measurements and detailed electron-microscopic investigations of both natural scales and scales from the white population artificially incubated in an iron-rich environment. Nevertheless, this biomineralization has remained a mystery for decades since the snail’s discovery, except that it requires the environment to be rich in iron, with a white population lacking in iron sulfide known from a naturally iron-poor locality.
Since the scaly-foot is capable of making iron sulfide nanoparticles in its natural habitat at a relatively low temperature (∼15 ☌) and in a chemically dynamic vent environment, elucidating its biomineralization pathways is expected to have significant industrial applications for the production of metal chalcogenide nanoparticles.
This unique snail inhabits deep-sea hot vents and possesses scales infused with iron sulfide nanoparticles, including pyrite, giving it a characteristic metallic black sheen. Biomineralization in animals exclusively features oxygen-based minerals with a single exception of the scaly-foot gastropod Chrysomallon squamiferum, the only metazoan with an iron sulfide skeleton.
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