dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaProtein induced morphological transitions in KCl crystal growth
| Authors | Balint Szabo, Tamas Vicsek |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0209005 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0209005 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevE.67.011908 |
| Journal | Phys.Rev. E 67, 011908 (2003) |
Abstract
We investigated the formation of KCl crystals on glass surface by phase contrast, fluorescent, and atomic force microscopy on the micrometer scale, and observed interesting morphological transitions as a function of the experimental conditions. The presence of proteins in the solution from which the salt crystals grow during the drying up leads to complex microscopic patterns of crystals some of which are analogous to those commonly observed on the macroscopic scale. We tested the effect of tubulin, FITC-labeled albumin and IgG on the morphology of crystals grown either slowly or fast. A rich variety of protein specific and concentration dependent morphologies was found and described by a morphological diagram. We give a phenomenological interpretation, which can explain the growth of complex patterns. Fluorescent images prove that a protein layer covers the surface of the KCl structures. We propose that this layer reduces the anisotropy of the effective surface tension during growth. The tip splitting fractal regime is attributed to the decrease of anisotropy. Other possible mechanisms, which can cause morphological transition, are also discussed. We found elongated saw-toothed crystals induced by proteins, especially IgG and identified their structure.
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"abstract": "We investigated the formation of KCl crystals on glass surface by phase\ncontrast, fluorescent, and atomic force microscopy on the micrometer scale, and\nobserved interesting morphological transitions as a function of the\nexperimental conditions. The presence of proteins in the solution from which\nthe salt crystals grow during the drying up leads to complex microscopic\npatterns of crystals some of which are analogous to those commonly observed on\nthe macroscopic scale. We tested the effect of tubulin, FITC-labeled albumin\nand IgG on the morphology of crystals grown either slowly or fast. A rich\nvariety of protein specific and concentration dependent morphologies was found\nand described by a morphological diagram. We give a phenomenological\ninterpretation, which can explain the growth of complex patterns. Fluorescent\nimages prove that a protein layer covers the surface of the KCl structures. We\npropose that this layer reduces the anisotropy of the effective surface tension\nduring growth. The tip splitting fractal regime is attributed to the decrease\nof anisotropy. Other possible mechanisms, which can cause morphological\ntransition, are also discussed. We found elongated saw-toothed crystals induced\nby proteins, especially IgG and identified their structure.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0209005",
"authors": [
"Balint Szabo",
"Tamas Vicsek"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"q-bio"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevE.67.011908",
"journal_ref": "Phys.Rev. E 67, 011908 (2003)",
"title": "Protein induced morphological transitions in KCl crystal growth",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0209005"
},
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