Extraction of a calcification inhibitor from Corallina officinalis.

Calcifying organisms secrete a range of substances that act as regulators of calcium carbonate (CaC03) nucleation and precipitation. An organic matrix. such as a protein-polysaccharide complex, is almost universally associated with biological calcification[ 1.21. The coralline algae (Corallinales, Florideophycae) are a family of marine red algae (Rhodophyta) characterized by heavy deposition of calcite in the cell walls. One species, Corallina oficinalis L., is an articulated alga common in rock pools in the intertidal zone in British waters. The thalli are composed of calcified segments (intergenicula) separated by noncalcareous joints (genicula). This localized pattern of calcification suggests that the cell wall chemistry of the genicula is different from that of the intergenicula, and that it is this difference that accounts for the calcarcous or non-calcareous nature of different parts of the