Biomineralization and Biological Metal Accumulation

Introduction: Biological Metal Accumulation and Biomineralization in a Geological Perspective.- I. Global Cycling and Biomineralization.- Gaia as seen Through the Atmosphere.- Microbial Systematics and a Gaian View of the Sediments.- Fine Structure of the Stratified Microbial Community at Laguna Figueroa, Baja California, Mexico.- The Influence of Biomineralization on the Composition of Seawater.- The Global Carbonate-Silicate Sedimentary System - Some Feedback Relations.- Calcification and Atmospheric C02.- The Modern Distribution and Geological History of Calcium Carbonate Boring Microorganisms.- II. Aspects of Calcification.- The Possible Role of Mitochondria and Phosphocitrate in Biological Calcification.- A Comparison of the Roles of Calcium in Biomineralization and in Cytosolic Signalling.- Hormonal Regulation of Calcification, with Particular Reference to the Hormonal Control of Eggshell Formation in Birds and Shell Growth in Molluscs.- Partial Purification of a Hormone Dependent Calcium-Binding Protein from the Mantle Edge of the Snail Lymnaea Stagnalis.- Studies on the Constancy of the Value of the Ionic Product Ca2+ x CO32- in the Haemolymph of the Freshwater Snail Lymnaea Stagnalis.- Mineralization Reactions Involving Calcium Carbonates and Phosphates.- Problems in the Understanding of Biominerals.- A High Resolution Electron Microscopy Study of the Balance Organs of the Inner Ear.- Mineralization by Organisms and the Evolution of Biomineralization.- Organic Matrix in Calcified Exoskeletons.- Calcification of Gastropod Nacre.- Organic Matrices of Mollusc Shells.- Immunological Studies on Macromolecules from Invertebrate Shells-Recent and Fossil.- Methodological Aspects of the Ultrastructural Analysis of the Organic and Mineral Components in Mollusc Shells.- Biomineral Formation of Gastropods, in Comparison with That of Pelecypods.- Ultrastructural Evolution of Molluscan Nacre.- Bone and Tooth Formation. Insights into Mineralization Strategies.- A Systematic Approach to Some Fundamental Questions of Carbonate Calcification.- Calcification in Coccolithophorids.- Inhibition of CaC03 Precipitation by a Polysaccharide Associated with Coccoliths of Emiliania Huxleyi.- Calcification Rates, Photosynthesis and Light in Planktonic Foraminifera.- Stromatolites, Fossil and Recent: A Case History.- Early Stromatolite Lithification - Organic Chemical Aspects.- The Role of Enamel Tubule and the Evolution of Mammalian Enamel.- Urinary Stone Formation as a Biomineralization Process.- The Influence of an Intense Fluoride Pretreatment on Remineralization of Enamel Lesions.- Microstructural Features of Teleost Otoliths.- III. Biological Accumulation of Metals other than Calcium.- Trace Elements as Probes of Biomineralization.- Structure of Granules in Helix Aspersa by EXAFS and other Physical Techniques.- Applications of Microincineration in Localising Biomineralized Inorganic Deposits in Sectioned Tissues.- Aspects of Silicification in Biological Systems.- High Resolution Electron Microscopy Studies of the Silica Lorica in the Choanoflagellate Stephanoeca Diplocostata Ellis.- A Bioinorganic View of the Biological Mineralization of Iron.- Plasma Ferritin in Polyplacophora and its Possible Role in the Biomineralization of Iron.- Mammalian Metallothionein: Evidence for Metal Thiolate Clusters.- Bacterial Interactions with Mineral Cations and Anions: Good Ions and Bad.- Microbial Oxidation and Reduction of Manganese and Iron.- An In Situ Method for Determining Microbial Manganese Oxidation Rates in Sediments.- Fe and Mn Depositing Bacteria in Marine Suspended Macro-Particulates.- Microbial Role in Witwatersrand Gold Deposition.- Biological Accumulation of Some Heavy Metals - Biotechnological Applications.- Closing Remarks.- List of Participants and Contributors.