Sugars are widely known as important sources of energy for
all organisms.
Now, Virginia Tech researchers have discovered that certain
types of sugars, known as polysaccharides, may also control the timing and
placement of minerals that animals use to produce hard structures such as
shells and exoskeletons of mollusks, lobsters, and shrimp.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, Anthony Giuffre of Delafield, Wisc., a graduate student in the
Department of Geosciences, and his research advisor, Patricia Dove, a
University Distinguished Professor in the College of Science, propose a theory
of how charged and uncharged sugars can be used to create shells and skeletons.