Chicken eggshell is a biomineral composed of 95% calcite calcium carbonate mineral and of 3.5% organic matrix proteins. The assembly of mineral and its structural organization is controlled by its organic matrix. In a recent study [1], we have used quantitative proteomic, bioinformatic and functional analyses to explore the distribution of 216 eggshell matrix proteins at four key stages of shel...

Soil N availability is constrained by the breakdown of N-containing polymers such as proteins to oligopeptides and amino acids that can be taken up by plants and microorganisms. Excess N is released from microbial cells as ammonium (N mineralization), which in turn can serve as substrate for nitrification. According to stoichiometric theory, N mineralization and nitrification are expected to in...

The Kırka borate deposit (Miocene), in western Turkey, the most important B2O3 producer at present in the world, exhibits a symmetrical zonation in a lateral sense; it is comprised of: a central body of Na borate (borax), an intermediate zone of Na–Ca borate (ulexite), and a marginal zone of Ca borate (colemanite). This mineral zonation is also developed in a vertical sense, although it is some...