Clam shell repair from the brown ring disease: a study of the organic matrix using confocal Raman micro-spectrometry and WDS microprobe.

Since 1987, the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum has been regularly affected by the brown ring disease (BRD), an epizootic caused by the bacterium Vibrio tapetis. This disease is characterized by the development of a brown deposit on the inner face of valves. While most of the clams die from the BRD infection, some of them are able to recover by mineralizing a new repair shell layer, which covers the brown deposit by a process of encapsulation.