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Self-Assembly of Highly Phosphorylated Silaffins and Their Function in Biosilica Morphogenesis
Nils Kröger,1Sonja Lorenz,2Eike Brunner,2Manfred Sumper1*
Silaffins are uniquely modified peptides that have been
implicated in the biogenesis of diatom biosilica. A method that avoidsthe harsh anhydrous hydrogen fluoride treatment commonly usedto
dissolve biosilica allows the extraction of silaffins in theirnative
state. The native silaffins carry further posttranslationalmodifications in addition to their polyamine moieties. Each serineresidue was phosphorylated, and this high level of
phosphorylationis essential for biological activity. The
zwitterionic structureof native silaffins enables the formation of
supramolecular assemblies.Time-resolved analysis of silica
morphogenesis in vitro detecteda plastic silaffin-silica phase, which
may represent a buildingmaterial for diatom biosilica.
1 Lehrstuhl Biochemie I,
2 Institut für Biophysik und Physikalische
Biochemie, Universität Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
manfred.sumper{at}vkl.uni-regensburg.de
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PERSPECTIVES
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[DOI: 10.1126/science.1078222] |Summary »|Full Text »|PDF »
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