thumb|The skeleton of a bamboo coral; the darker joints are gorgonin nodes|alt=refer to caption '''Gorgonin''' is a flexible<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sea fan |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/sea-fan |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> scleroprotein<ref name="Heikoop" />{{Clarification needed|reason=A single protein or "protein" in a material sense?|date=October 2024}} which provides structural strength to gorgonian corals, a subset of the order Alcyonacea.<ref name="Borneman">{{cite book |last=Borneman |first=Eric H. |title=Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History |publisher=T.F.H. Publications |year=2001 |isbn=1-890087-47-5 |location=Neptune City, NJ 07753 |pages=464}}</ref> Gorgonian corals have supporting skeletal axes{{Definition needed|date=July 2024}} made of gorgonin and/or calcite.<ref>Daly, M., M.R. Brugler, P. Cartwright, A.G. Collins, M.N. Dawson, D.G. Fautin, S.C. France, C.S. McFadden, D.M. Opresko, E. Rodriquez, S.L. Romano, J.L. Stake. (2007). The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity 300 years after Linnaeus. Zootaxa. (1668): 127–182., available online at http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01668p182.pdf</ref> Gorgonin makes up the joints of bamboo corals in the deep sea,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ehrlich |first1=H. |last2=Etnoyer |first2=P. |last3=Litvinov |first3=S. D. |last4=Olennikova |first4=M.M. |last5=Domaschke |first5=H. |last6=Hanke |first6=T. |last7=Born |first7=R. |last8=Meissner |first8=H. |last9=Worch |first9=H. |date=June 2006 |title=Biomaterial structure in deep-sea bamboo coral (Anthozoa: Gorgonacea: Isididae): perspectives for the development of bone implants and templates for tissue engineering |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mawe.200600036 |journal=Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik |language=en |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=552–557 |doi=10.1002/mawe.200600036 |issn=0933-5137|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and forms the central internal skeleton of sea fans.<ref name=":0" /> It frequently contains appreciable quantities of bromine, iodine, and tyrosine.<ref name="Borneman" />
Gorgonin is diagenetically stable and is deposited in discrete annual growth rings in Primnoa resedaeformis, and possibly other species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sherwood |first1=Owen A. |last2=Lehmann |first2=Moritz F. |last3=Schubert |first3=Carsten J. |last4=Scott |first4=David B. |last5=McCarthy |first5=Matthew D. |date=2011-01-18 |title=Nutrient regime shift in the western North Atlantic indicated by compound-specific δ 15 N of deep-sea gorgonian corals |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=108 |issue=3 |pages=1011–1015 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1004904108 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=3024653 |pmid=21199952}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sherwood |first1=Owen A. |last2=Scott |first2=David B. |last3=Risk |first3=Michael J. |date=2006-06-01 |title=Late Holocene radiocarbon and aspartic acid racemization dating of deep-sea octocorals |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001670370600144X |journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |volume=70 |issue=11 |pages=2806–2814 |doi=10.1016/j.gca.2006.03.011 |bibcode=2006GeCoA..70.2806S |issn=0016-7037|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== History == The study of the chemistry of gorgonin, as a substance rather than a protein, was started by Balard in 1825, who reported on the occurrence of "iodogorgic acid".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ehrlich |first=Hermann |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-92483-0 |title=Marine Biological Materials of Invertebrate Origin |date=2019 |publisher=Springer Cham |isbn=978-3-319-92482-3 |language=en |chapter=Gorgonin |series=Biologically-Inspired Systems |volume=13 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-92483-0 |eissn=2211-0607 |issn=2211-0593 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-92483-0_12}}</ref> Several sources cite Valenciennes as having given the protein the name of "gorgonin" in an 1855 monograph.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Block |first1=Richard J. |last2=Bolling |first2=Diana |date=1939-03-01 |title=THE AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF KERATINS: THE COMPOSITION OF GORGONIN, SPONGIN, TURTLE SCUTES, AND OTHER KERATINS |journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry |volume=127 |issue=3 |pages=685–693 |doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)73773-3 |doi-access=free |issn=0021-9258}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> However, the monograph cited appears to contradict this, solely naming a newly-discovered substance in Gorgonians "cornéine" after its resemblance to substances extracted from mammalian hooves and nails.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Valenciennes |date=1855-07-01 |title=Extrait d'une monographie de la famille des Gorgonidées de la clase des Polypes |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2998h/f11.item |journal=Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences |language=EN |pages=7–15 |access-date=2024-10-07 |via=Gallica}}</ref> According to one 1939 paper, Valenciennes' discovery was followed by investigations by Krukenberg, Mendel, Morner, and others, which suggested the protein was a keratin, similar to those obtained from the ectoderm of "higher animals".<ref name=":1" />
==Scientific use== Research has shown that measurements of the gorgonin and calcite within species of gorgonian corals can be useful in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. Studies of the growth, composition, and structure of the skeleton of certain species of gorgonians, (e.g., ''Primnoa resedaeformis'', and ''Plexaurella dichotoma'') can be highly correlated with seasonal and climatic variation.<ref name="Heikoop">{{cite journal | last =Heikoop | first =J.M. |author2=M.J. Risk |author3=C.K. Shearer |author4=V. Atudorei | title = Potential climate signals from the deep-sea gorgonian coral ''Primnoa resedaeformis'' | journal = Hydrobiologia | volume = 471 | issue = 1–3 | pages = 117–124 | date = March 2002 | doi = 10.1023/A:1016505421115 | bibcode =2002HyBio.471..117H | s2cid =7432164 }}</ref><ref name="Sherwood">{{cite book | last =Sherwood | first =Owen A. |author2=Jeffrey M. Heikoop |author3=Daniel J. Sinclair |author4=David B. Scott |author5=Michael J. Risk |author6=Chip Shearer |author7=Kumiko Azetsu-Scott | title =Cold-Water Corals and Ecosystems | publisher =Springer Berlin Heidelberg | year = 2005 | pages =1061–1079 | series = Erlangen Earth Conference Series | doi =10.1007/3-540-27673-4 | isbn = 978-3-540-24136-2 }}</ref><ref name="Bond">{{cite journal | last = Bond | first = Zoë A. |author2=Anne L. Cohen |author3=Struan R. Smith |author4=William J. Jenkins | title = Growth and composition of high-Mg calcite in the skeleton of a Bermudian gorgonian (''Plexaurella dichotoma''): Potential for paleothermometry | journal = Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems | volume = 6 | pages =Q08010 | date = 2005-08-31 | doi = 10.1029/2005GC000911 | issue = 8 | bibcode = 2005GGG.....6.8010B | hdl = 1912/396 | s2cid = 128703481 | hdl-access = free }} </ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Proteins
{{protein-stub}}