Iron Biominerals
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IRON BIOMINERALS
Edited by
Richard B. Frankel California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California
and
Richard P. Blakemore University of New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC
Llbrarv of Congress Cataloglng-In-Publlcatlon Data
Iron bl0.1nerals I edlted by Richard B. Frankel and Richard P. Blakellore. p. cn. "Proceedlngs of a Conference on Iron Bl0.1nerals. held ~uly al-August 1. 1989. at the Unlverslty of New Hallpshlre. Durham -Copr. p. Includes blbllographlcal references and Index. ISBN 978-1-4613-6699-7 ISBN 978-1-4615-3810-3 (eBook) DOI I0.I007/978-1-4615-3810-3
1. BloI11nerallzatlon--Congresses. 2. Iron cOllpounds--Congresses. a. Iron bacterla--Congresses. 1. Frankel. Richard B. II. Blake.ore, Richard P. III. Conference on Iron Blollinerals (1989 : Unlverslty of New Hallpshlre) QH512.176 1991 574. 19'29--dc20 90-20929 CIP
Proceedings ofa Conference on Iron Biominerals, held July 31-August 1, 1989, at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hamphire ISBN 978-1-4613-6699-7
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1991 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover lst edition 1991 Ali rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
PREFACE
Inorganic solid state phases are as integral to organisms as aqueous phase chemical reactions. Over 60 different biologically produced minerals are presently known. While the calcium phosphates and carbonates have been the most extensively studied, research over the last decade has made clear that iron biominerals are also widely distributed in Nature. They occur in organisms from bacteria to humans and afford the best opportunity for elucidating biomineralization processes. Because iron plays a crucial role in catalysis, mass transport, and bioenergetics in all organisms, and because it is an important factor in human health and disease, there has been a tremendous growth of interest and knowledge concerning iron biominerals in the last few years. It is also clear now that iron biominerals make an important contribution to the sedimentary paleomagnetic record and are important in biogeochemical cycling and succession. Thus their study could provide insight into planetary evolution. Finally, interest has been growing in potential technological applications of iron biominerals in medicine, catalysis, and electronics. In the past few years there have been a number of conferences devoted to transition metals in biology and to biomineralization phenomena. However, the former have dealt primarily with transition metal-containing enzymes, while the latter have dealt primarily with calcium biominerals. In the light of recent developments in the understanding of the structures of iron biominerals and biological control and genetics of iron biomineralization processes, we
