Gorgonin

refer to caption
The skeleton of a bamboo coral; the darker joints are gorgonin nodes

Gorgonin is a flexible[1] scleroprotein[2][clarification needed] which provides structural strength to gorgonian corals, a subset of the order Alcyonacea.[3] Gorgonian corals have supporting skeletal axes[definition needed] made of gorgonin and/or calcite.[4] Gorgonin makes up the joints of bamboo corals in the deep sea,[5] and forms the central internal skeleton of sea fans.[1] It frequently contains appreciable quantities of bromine, iodine, and tyrosine.[3]

Gorgonin is diagenetically stable and is deposited in discrete annual growth rings in Primnoa resedaeformis, and possibly other species.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b "Sea fan". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Heikoop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Borneman, Eric H. (2001). Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History. Neptune City, NJ 07753: T.F.H. Publications. p. 464. ISBN 1-890087-47-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ Daly, M., M.R. Brugler, P. Cartwright, A.G. Collins, M.N. Dawson, D.G. Fautin, S.C. France, C.S. McFadden, D.M. Opresko, E. Rodriquez, S.L. Romano, J.L. Stake. (2007). The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity 300 years after Linnaeus. Zootaxa. (1668): 127–182., available online at http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01668p182.pdf
  5. ^ Ehrlich, H.; Etnoyer, P.; Litvinov, S. D.; Olennikova, M.M.; Domaschke, H.; Hanke, T.; Born, R.; Meissner, H.; Worch, H. (June 2006). "Biomaterial structure in deep-sea bamboo coral (Anthozoa: Gorgonacea: Isididae): perspectives for the development of bone implants and templates for tissue engineering". Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik. 37 (6): 552–557. doi:10.1002/mawe.200600036. ISSN 0933-5137.
  6. ^ Sherwood, Owen A.; Lehmann, Moritz F.; Schubert, Carsten J.; Scott, David B.; McCarthy, Matthew D. (2011-01-18). "Nutrient regime shift in the western North Atlantic indicated by compound-specific δ 15 N of deep-sea gorgonian corals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (3): 1011–1015. doi:10.1073/pnas.1004904108. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3024653. PMID 21199952.
  7. ^ Sherwood, Owen A.; Scott, David B.; Risk, Michael J. (2006-06-01). "Late Holocene radiocarbon and aspartic acid racemization dating of deep-sea octocorals". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 70 (11): 2806–2814. Bibcode:2006GeCoA..70.2806S. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.03.011. ISSN 0016-7037.