For decades, scientists have been fascinated by how the tiniest organisms construct the most intricately ornamented biomaterials. Biomineralization - the formation of inorganic structures by living organisms – is interesting not only because of its biological control and sophisticated biochemistry, but also because it is essential to advance our understanding of geochemical cycling of elements, climate change and reconstruction, and offers a huge potential for developing sustainable materials.

While diatoms and coccolithophores have long served as models in microalgal biomineralization research, the mechanisms underlying mineral formation in calcareous dinoflagellates remain largely unexplored. Our research addresses this knowledge gap by establishing calcareous dinoflagellates as a model system for extracellular calcite morphogenesis. We recently proposed a novel biomineralization model involving an intracellular MgCaP-rich amorphous precursor phase, which offers new insights into biomineral construction in these organisms.

To unravel the interplay between organic and inorganic components, we combine advanced microscopy (e.g., cryo-EM), spectroscopy (e.g., solid-state NMR, Raman imaging), and molecular biology approaches (e.g., transcriptomics/genomics). This integrative strategy allows us to probe biomineralization processes in their native state and link molecular mechanisms to larger-scale mineral architectures and material properties. By bridging cellular processes with environmental and materials science perspectives, our goal is to advance both the understanding of biomineralization under changing environmental conditions and its translation into innovative bio-inspired technologies.