Mineralization in marine algae using synchrotron light

Biominerals are hard tissues grown by organisms, and can be made of many different materials and designs, that often have surprising or useful material properties. One example of this is coccolithophores, which are marine single cells that grow calcium carbonate scales in an intracellular compartment, before extruding them to form an outer shell around the cell wall. The structures they create (coccoliths) are tiny (2-5 microns), but still manage to be intricate and show highly controlled crystal growth. By discovering the mechanism by which the cell influences crystal growth we can take inspiration for synthetic material design and production. 

In this project we will investigate how calcium travels from the external source (seawater) into the coccolith growing compartment, using a combination of light microscopy and synchrotron x-ray experiments. We will also investigate the response of these cells to the highly focused x-ray beam available at beamline I14 – the hard x-ray nanoprobe at Diamond Light Source. The small size of the beam means we can investigate nanoscale variations in the coccolith structure. As part of the project we will use a liquid cell system to investigate hydrated samples, and develop experimental methods for using this system.

This is a highly interdisciplinary project involving biology, chemistry, materials science and physics, so will suit a student with a broad interest base, with particular interest in cell biology, imaging, and crystallization.