Diatoms are important primary producers in the marine ecosystem. Currently it is difficult to genetically transform diatoms due to the technical limitations of existing methods. The promoter/terminator of the nitrate reductase gene of the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was cloned and used to drive chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene expression. The construct was transf...

The reproductive strategy of diatoms includes asexual and sexual phases, but in many species, including the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, sexual reproduction has never been observed. Furthermore, the environmental factors that trigger sexual reproduction in diatoms are not understood. Although genome sequences of a few diatoms are available, little is known about the molecular ...

E ver since the invention of the microscope, scientists and laypeople alike have marveled at the intricate patterning of the silica within the diatom cell wall, termed the frustule (Fig. 1). There are well over 10,000 species of diatoms in marine and freshwaters, and each species has a unique wall morphology (1). Although organisms from multiple kingdoms of life produce siliceous structures (e....

*Correspondence: Douglas A. Campbell, Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, 63B York St., Sackville, NB E4L1G7, Canada e-mail: [email protected] Diatoms contribute ∼40% of primary production in the modern ocean and encompass the largest cell size range of any phytoplankton group. Diatom cell size influences their nutrient uptake, photosynthetic light capture, carbon export efficiency,...

Membrane transporters (MTs) facilitate the movement of molecules between cellular compartments. The evolutionary history of these key components of eukaryote genomes remains unclear. Many photosynthetic microbial eukaryotes (e.g., diatoms, haptophytes, and dinoflagellates) appear to have undergone serial endosymbiosis and thereby recruited foreign genes through endosymbiotic/horizontal gene tra...

Diatoms are single-cell algae encased in a cell wall (named frustule) composed of transparent, biogenic (or opaline) silica with intricate and strikingly regular patterns. Over the past 30 years, these microorganisms have proven to be valuable replacement for synthetic that satisfies numerous pharmaceutical requirements realization drug delivery vectors, biosensing supports photonic crystals. I...

379 Biominerals are the inorganic phases of minerals found in biological systems, which are distributed from microorganisms to the highest animals and plants (Mann et al. 1989, Simkiss and Wilbur 1989, Weiner and Lowenstam 1989, Mann 2001). Although minerals composed of calcium predominate, biominerals of barium, strontium, iron, and silica are also well known. Biominerals generally occur as ox...

Recent reports have shown an increase in potentially harmful phytoplankton in Santos bay (Southeastern Brazilian Coast), located in a highly urbanised estuarine complex. Prediction of blooms is, thus, essential but the phytoplankton community structure in very dynamic regions is difficult to determine. In the present work, we discriminate bloom forming microphytoplankton dominance and their rel...

The inhibitory effect of diatoms upon egg viability was investigated by feeding the planktonic copepod Calanus pacificus (collected in coastal waters off Oregon. USA) 3 diatom species (Chaetoceros difficilis, Ditylurn brightweh, isolated from Oregon coastal waters, and Thalassiosira weissflogii, from culture collections at Oregon State University) ad libitum (2.6 to 3.9 mg C I-'). These diatoms...

Marine diatoms have recently gained much attention as they are expected to be a promising resource for sustainable production of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and biofuels as a future clean energy solution. To develop photosynthetic cell factories, it is important to improve diatoms for value-added products. In this study, we utilized UVC radiation to induce mutations in the marine di...