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Diatoms are a type ofalgae (tiny plant-like living things often found in water). Most aresingle cells, but some form chains or simple colonies. They usually live in theocean, but are also found in somesoils andwaterways.
Diatomcells have uniquecell walls made ofsilica (SiO2). These walls (called "frustules") take many forms, some quite beautiful and ornate.
The name "diatom" comes from the ancient Greek worddiátomos, which means 'cut through.' Diatom cell walls are usually split (or 'cut through') into two sides.
Living diatoms comprise about 20 to 50 percent of theoxygen produced annually.[1][2] They take in over 6.7 billion metric tons ofsilicon each year from the waters in which they live.[3]
Diatoms andcoccoliths are the two great groups of single-celledorganisms in the sea. They do not grow in the same places, because diatoms are silica and coccoliths are made ofcalcium carbonate.T.H. Huxley first discovered this on his voyage onHMS Rattlesnake in 1846–1850.
Diatoms have some practical uses. Scientists can study it to determine water quality, monitorenvironmental conditions likepollution, and understand what past environments were like.
Diatom communities are also of interest tonanotechnology.
↑Kooistra W.H.C.F. and Medlin L.K. 1996. Evolution of the diatoms (Bacillariophyta): IV. A reconstruction of their age from small subunit rRNA coding regions and the fossil record.Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.6, 391-407.
↑Bowler C.et al. 2008. ThePhaeodactylumgenome reveals the evolutionary history of diatom genomes.Nature456: 239–244.
