High-Rate Growth of Calcium Carbonate Crystal Using Soluble Protein from Diseased Oyster Shell

Abstract

The soluble protein HDS (Hemocyte from Diseased Shell), obtained from diseased shells of the oyster Crassostrea gigas, is used in calcium carbonate crystallization in vitro. By comparison of the crystal growth rate of HDS with other soluble proteins from oyster shells, the high-rate growth of calcium carbonate crystals is identified. The result of searching for proteins that have a similar composition of amino acids as the sequence in HDS is analyzed using by BLAST (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST). The function and role of HDS is discussed in the secondary structure of the protein.