Centuries-old planktonic shell mystery solved with discovery of self-assembling proteins

Biomaterials with extraordinary properties, such as spider silk, have so far been known primarily from animals. Researchers at the University of Salzburg in Austria have now deciphered a surprising counterpart from the world of single-celled organisms: The shells of tintinnids, microscopic planktonic organisms, consist of self-assembling structural proteins that form a particularly resilient material and are capable of absorbing UV light. This is the first description of a biomaterial produced by a eukaryotic single-celled organism (protist), establishing tintinnids as a new model system for the future development of advanced biomaterials. More than 200 years after the discovery of tintinnids, the composition of their shells has finally been deciphered.