Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation
Cultured pearls are human creations formed by inserting a nucleus and a small piece of mantle tissue into a living shelled mollusc, usually a pearl oyster. Although many pearl observations intuitively suggest a possible rotation of the nucleated pearl inside the oyster, no experimental demonstration...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2015-01-01
|
| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.150144 |
| _version_ | 1819202755210772480 |
|---|---|
| author | Yannick Gueguen Yann Czorlich Max Mastail Bruno Le Tohic Didier Defay Pierre Lyonnard Damien Marigliano Jean-Pierre Gauthier Hubert Bari Cedrik Lo Sébastien Chabrier Gilles Le Moullac |
| author_facet | Yannick Gueguen Yann Czorlich Max Mastail Bruno Le Tohic Didier Defay Pierre Lyonnard Damien Marigliano Jean-Pierre Gauthier Hubert Bari Cedrik Lo Sébastien Chabrier Gilles Le Moullac |
| author_sort | Yannick Gueguen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cultured pearls are human creations formed by inserting a nucleus and a small piece of mantle tissue into a living shelled mollusc, usually a pearl oyster. Although many pearl observations intuitively suggest a possible rotation of the nucleated pearl inside the oyster, no experimental demonstration of such a movement has ever been done. This can be explained by the difficulty of observation of such a phenomenon in the tissues of a living animal. To investigate this question of pearl rotation, a magnetometer system was specifically engineered to register magnetic field variations with magnetic sensors from movements of a magnetic nucleus inserted in the pearl oyster. We demonstrated that a continuous movement of the nucleus inside the oyster starts after a minimum of 40 days post-grafting and continues until the pearl harvest. We measured a mean angular speed of 1.27° min−1 calculated for four different oysters. Rotation variability was observed among oysters and may be correlated to pearl shape and defects. Nature's ability to generate so amazingly complex structures like a pearl has delivered one of its secrets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T04:09:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34cda191d5264f7cb39e9e6a4cb27f5f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T04:09:03Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-34cda191d5264f7cb39e9e6a4cb27f5f2022-12-21T18:00:33ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032015-01-012710.1098/rsos.150144150144Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formationYannick GueguenYann CzorlichMax MastailBruno Le TohicDidier DefayPierre LyonnardDamien MariglianoJean-Pierre GauthierHubert BariCedrik LoSébastien ChabrierGilles Le MoullacCultured pearls are human creations formed by inserting a nucleus and a small piece of mantle tissue into a living shelled mollusc, usually a pearl oyster. Although many pearl observations intuitively suggest a possible rotation of the nucleated pearl inside the oyster, no experimental demonstration of such a movement has ever been done. This can be explained by the difficulty of observation of such a phenomenon in the tissues of a living animal. To investigate this question of pearl rotation, a magnetometer system was specifically engineered to register magnetic field variations with magnetic sensors from movements of a magnetic nucleus inserted in the pearl oyster. We demonstrated that a continuous movement of the nucleus inside the oyster starts after a minimum of 40 days post-grafting and continues until the pearl harvest. We measured a mean angular speed of 1.27° min−1 calculated for four different oysters. Rotation variability was observed among oysters and may be correlated to pearl shape and defects. Nature's ability to generate so amazingly complex structures like a pearl has delivered one of its secrets.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.150144pearl oysterpearl rotationbiomineralization |
| spellingShingle | Yannick Gueguen Yann Czorlich Max Mastail Bruno Le Tohic Didier Defay Pierre Lyonnard Damien Marigliano Jean-Pierre Gauthier Hubert Bari Cedrik Lo Sébastien Chabrier Gilles Le Moullac Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation Royal Society Open Science pearl oyster pearl rotation biomineralization |
| title | Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| title_full | Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| title_fullStr | Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| title_short | Yes, it turns: experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| title_sort | yes it turns experimental evidence of pearl rotation during its formation |
| topic | pearl oyster pearl rotation biomineralization |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.150144 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yannickgueguen yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT yannczorlich yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT maxmastail yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT brunoletohic yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT didierdefay yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT pierrelyonnard yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT damienmarigliano yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT jeanpierregauthier yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT hubertbari yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT cedriklo yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT sebastienchabrier yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation AT gilleslemoullac yesitturnsexperimentalevidenceofpearlrotationduringitsformation |