Diatoms, unicellular algae with ornate silica shells, have fascinated amateur and professional biologists ever since the invention of the microscope. But these days, diatoms and their exquisite shells are also attracting the attention of nanotechnologists who hope that diatoms will teach them how to make minute structures currently beyond the capabilities of materials scientists. And now these ...

Native diatoms made of amorphous silica are first converted into silicon structures via magnesiothermic process, preserving the original shape: electron force microscopy analysis performed on silicon-converted diatoms demonstrates their semiconductor behavior. Wet surface chemical treatments are then performed in order to enhance the photoluminescence emission from the resulting silicon diatoms...

Diatoms are heterokont algae derived from a secondary symbiotic event in which a eukaryotic host cell acquired an eukaryotic red alga as plastid. The multiple endosymbiosis and horizontal gene transfer processes provide diatoms unusual opportunities for gene mixing to establish distinctive biosynthetic pathways and metabolic control structures. Diatoms are also known to have significant impact ...

Nature's silicon marvel, the diatoms have lately astounded the scientific community with its intricate designs and lasting durability. Diatoms are a major group of phytoplanktons involved in the biogeochemical cycling of silica and are virtually inherent in every environment ranging from water to ice to soil. The usage of diatoms has proved prudently cost effective and its handling neither requ...

[1] Among phytoplankton the diatoms are strong competitors and contribute significantly to total global primary production. Aspects of their life history, notably their high sinking rates, make them important to the export flux of carbon into the ocean interior. Unlike the majority of other phytoplankton, they utilize silicic acid (=silicate) to construct their cell walls and are controlled by ...

Diatom silica microcapsules prepared by purification of diatomaceous earth (DE) were functionalised by dopamine modified iron-oxide nanoparticles, in order to introduce diatoms with magnetic properties. The application of magnetised diatoms as magnetically guided drug delivery microcarriers has been demonstrated.

To reveal the feeding habits of 3 bivalve species and the effects on the sediment and benthic diatoms, a field experiment was conducted in the estuarine Gamo lagoon, Japan, using enclosures stocked with bivalves. The surface-deposit feeder Macoma contabulata reduced silt–clay, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon content and the δ13C value of the sediment, while the surfacedeposit feeder Nu...

A short-term, localized outbreak of diatoms attached to live corals was observed along the coast of Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan in February, 2011. Diatoms are recognized as brown patches in the initial stage, becoming fluffy encrustations and resulting in complete or partial coral death. Attached diatoms, including Licmophora, Climacosphenia, Ardissonea and others, attached and overgrew exclu...