Dental News - Crayfish found to have substance on teeth similar to human enamel

Dental Tribune USA

Tue. 31 July 2012

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NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: A team of Israeli and German scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces have found an enamel-like layer in the mandibles of freshwater crayfish, according to an article in Nature Communications, “Enamel-like Apatite Crown Covering Amorphous Mineral in a Crayfish Mandible.”

Dr. Shmuel Bentov from BGU’s Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren department of biotechnology engineering discovered that this species of crayfish protect their teeth against wear in a very specific and surprising manner: They produce a highly mineralized protective coating based on calcium phosphate, which is strikingly similar to the enamel of vertebrates.

“Enamel is the best solution for coating masticatory (chewing) organs,” Bentov explains. “We assume that in the course of evolution, both vertebrates and this crayfish independently developed enamel-like tissues to address similar needs. Crustaceans discard their old teeth during the molting events several times throughout their life, and grow new exoskeletons and teeth regularly and rapidly.”

Dr. Amir Berman, also from the department of biotechnology engineering, and Prof. Amir Sagi, from BGU’s department of life sciences and National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, investigated the mandibles of the Australian freshwater crayfish cherax quadricarinatus in cooperation with Dr. Barbara Aichmayer and her colleagues from the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam, Germany. The team is investigating the formation process of this material and its ramifications.

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) helps sustain David Ben-Gurion's vision of creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university committed to the highest academic standards, community involvement and sustainable development of the Negev.

(Source: American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

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