Molecular biology and the biotechnological potential of diatoms.

Diatoms are unicellular photoautotrophic eukaryotes that play an important role in ecology by fixing large amounts of CO2 in the oceans. Because they evolved by secondary endocytobiosis--a process of uptake of a eukaryotic alga into another eukaryotic cell--they have a rather unusual cell biology and genetic constitution. Diatoms are also of biotechnological interest since they produce highly unsaturated fatty acids. In addition they are able to form delicately ornate cell walls made of amorphous silica. Understanding and modifying the processes of biomineralization in diatoms might result in new nanotechnological processes. Therefore recent advances in molecular genomics and the development of genetic tools for diatoms might pave the way for biotechnological modification and utilization of diatoms. In this chapter I will briefly characterize these extraordinary organisms, give some insights into the actual advances in molecular biology of diatoms and present some examples for the potential future use of diatoms in algal biotechnology.