@article{BaumgartnerLesevicKumarietal.2012,
  author    = {Baumgartner, Jens and Lesevic, Paul and Kumari, Monika and Halbmair, Karin and Bennet, Mathieu and Koernig, Andre and Widdrat, Marc and Andert, Janet and Wollgarten, Markus and Bertinetti, Luca and Strauch, Peter and Hirt, Ann and Faivre, Damien},
  title     = {From magnetotactic bacteria to hollow spirilla-shaped silica containing a magnetic chain},
  series = {RSC Advances},
  volume    = {2},
  journal   = {RSC Advances},
  number    = {21},
  publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {2046-2069},
  doi       = {10.1039/c2ra20911j},
  pages     = {8007 -- 8009},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Magnetotactic bacteria produce chains of magnetite nanoparticles, which are called magnetosomes and are used for navigational purposes. We use these cells as a biological template to prepare a hollow hybrid material based on silica and magnetite, and show that the synthetic route is nondestructive as the material conserves the cell morphology as well as the alignment of the magnetic particles. The hybrid material can be resuspended in aqueous solution, and can be shown to orient itself in an external magnetic field. We anticipate that chemical modification of the silica can be used to functionalize the material surface in order to obtain multifunctional materials with specialized applications, e.g. targeted drug delivery.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchmittWinterBertinettietal.2015,
  author    = {Schmitt, Clemens Nikolaus Zeno and Winter, Alette and Bertinetti, Luca and Masic, Admir and Strauch, Peter and Harrington, Matthew J.},
  title     = {Mechanical homeostasis of a DOPA-enriched biological coating from mussels in response to metal variation},
  series = {Interface : journal of the Royal Society},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Interface : journal of the Royal Society},
  number    = {110},
  publisher = {Royal Society},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {1742-5689},
  doi       = {10.1098/rsif.2015.0466},
  pages     = {8},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Protein metal coordination interactions were recently found to function as crucial mechanical cross-links in certain biological materials. Mussels, for example, use Fe ions from the local environment coordinated to DOPA-rich proteins to stiffen the protective cuticle of their anchoring byssal attachment threads. Bioavailability of metal ions in ocean habitats varies significantly owing to natural and anthropogenic inputs on both short and geological spatio-temporal scales leading to large variations in byssal thread metal composition; however, it is not clear how or if this affects thread performance. Here, we demonstrate that in natural environments mussels can opportunistically replace Fe ions in the DOPA coordination complex with V and Al. In vitro removal of the native DOPA metal complexes with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and replacement with either Fe or V does not lead to statistically significant changes in cuticle performance, indicating that each metal ion is equally sufficient as a DOPA cross-linking agent, able to account for nearly 85\% of the stiffness and hardness of the material. Notably, replacement with Al ions also leads to full recovery of stiffness, but only 82\% recovery of hardness. These findings have important implications for the adaptability of this biological material in a dynamically changing and unpredictable habitat.},
  language  = {en}
}