Biomineralisation in Fish Bones and Teeth: from Microscopy to 
Design of Materials.
Organizers: Anne Kemp and Gilles Cuny 
(University of Queensland and Geological Museum, University 
of Copenhagen).

during the
7th International Congress on the Biology of Fishes 
 St John's, Newfoundland, Canada 
 18-22 July 2006 

This symposium will discuss all aspects of biomineralisation of the hard tissues of fish, including bone, enamel, enameloid, dentine, calcified cartilage, otoliths and scale tissues. The processes involved in biomineralisation are known in part in some mammals, but little understood in fish. Studies on immunodetection of the proteins involved in the mineralization processes of hard tissues in fish are not very widely used, and the genes coding for these proteins are not always identified. That the fine structure of fish teeth shows an enormous diversity has been known since the early studies of Owen in the nineteenth century, but little of this diversity has been studied with modern techniques of microscopy. Specific adaptations of the ultrastructure of fish dentitions, in relation to stress induced during use of the teeth, have implications for biomaterials research and for the design of more effective machinery for industrial processes. Equally, analysis of the fine structure of bone has implications for biomechanics. Improved understanding of all of these aspects of fish hard tissues has also phylogenetic implications, especially for the relationships among problematic groups of fishes, or between fish and other vertebrates. This symposium will bring ideas from different fields, in biochemistry, genetics, developmental biology, biomaterials and microscopy, together and assist in the development of productive new ideas.

For more details see: http://www.mun.ca/biology/icbf7/index.html 

Dr. Gilles Cuny
Geological Museum, University of Copenhagen
Øster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Tel: (45) 3532 2364, Fax: (45) 3532 2325
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