@article {48866,
	title = {Nanoscale visualization of biomineral formation in coral proto-polyps.},
	journal = {Current Biology : CB},
	volume = {27},
	year = {2017},
	month = {2017 Oct 11},
	pages = {3191-6},
	abstract = {<p>Calcium carbonate platforms produced by reef-building stony corals over geologic time are pervasive features around the world [1]; however, the mechanism by which these organisms produce the mineral is poorly understood (see review by [2]). It is generally assumed that stony corals precipitate calcium carbonate extracellularly as aragonite in a calcifying medium between the calicoblastic ectoderm and pre-existing skeleton, separated from the overlying seawater [2]. The calicoblastic ectoderm produces extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, secreted to the calcifying medium [3-6], which appear to provide the nucleation, alteration, elongation, and inhibition mechanisms of the biomineral [7] and remain occluded and preserved in the skeleton [8-10]. Here we show in cell cultures of the stony coral Stylophora pistillata that calcium is concentrated in intracellular pockets that are subsequently exported from the cell where a nucleation process leads to the formation of extracellular aragonite crystals. Analysis of the growing crystals by lattice light-sheet microscopy suggests that the crystals elongate from the cells{\textquoteright} surfaces outward.</p>
},
	issn = {1879-0445},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.012},
	author = {Mass, Tali and Drake, Jeana L and Heddleston, John M and Falkowski, Paul G}
}
