After 7,000 years without light and oxygen in #BalticSea mud, researchers bring prehistoric #algae back to life https://phys.org/news/2025-03-years-oxygen-baltic-sea-mud.html

Resurrection of a #diatom after 7000 years from anoxic Baltic Sea sediment: Sarah Bolius et al. https://academic.oup.com/ismej/article/19/1/wrae252/7942337

"Such deposits are like a time capsule containing valuable information about past ecosystems and the inhabiting biological communities, their population development and genetic changes"

The #diatom genus Nitzschia lost photosynthesis to become free-living heterotrophs. This study shows how #HGT from marine bacteria, followed by #GeneDuplication & #neofunctionalization, allowed them to catabolize #alginate & live off brown algal polysaccharides @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/41WaW8e

Delighted to see our work on #diatom motility published in @pnas.org ! doi.org/10.1073/pnas... These abundant single-celled algae are responsible for a significant portion of the air we breathe yet often overlooked. Here we show how how diatom (raphe) shape impacts their gliding function... 1/3

Water #salinity affects #diatom structure and #metabolism, study shows.

#Nitzschia #global_carbon_cycle #lipids #extracellullar_polysaccharide #photosynthesis

https://phys.org/news/2025-02-salinity-affects-diatom-metabolism.html

Scientist named a new #Isopoda species from Dark Vador #starwar because of its face similarity
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/139335/

We named a new #diatom species from #nandor last year not because of any similarity but just for #fun
https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S1314201124000833

#nature #science #species #biodiversity
And you, do you know other species named after a #moovie character?

#Phytochromes: The 'eyes' that enable #microalgae to find their way in aquatic depths https://phys.org/news/2024-12-phytochromes-eyes-enable-microalgae-aquatic.html

#Diatom phytochromes integrate the underwater light spectrum to sense depth: Carole Duchêne et al. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08301-3

"These photoreceptors enable them to detect changes in the light spectrum in the water column, thereby providing information regarding their vertical position within it."

I am very happy to share this new paper led by Cécile Figus, which shows the very complex relationship between #diatom prevalence in #Paleogene epicontinental seas, #tectonics, and global #climate.
https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/20/2629/2024/

Weekend #Plankton #Factoid
Some #copepods have resin and silica lined "opal" teeth called gnathobases - which is a great word! These hardened mandibles are used to crunch open the silica frustules of #diatom algae (viewed as co-evolutionary pressure). They are replaced at molt, but adults only get the one set, and they wear down. Eventually, they must settle for #feeding on less crunchy diatoms, smaller cells, or the softer cellulose covered dinoflagellates.
#Science
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2407876121

3D laser printing with #bioinks from #microalgae.

#diatom #Odontella #Tetraselmis #lipids #biofactories

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-3d-laser-bioinks-microalgae.html

The study showed that the #diatom #CylindrothecaClosterium, which is found in #oceans around the world, regularly performs a simultaneous mix of both #photosynthesis and direct eating of #carbon from #OrganicSources such as #plankton

Surprise Discovery Could Rewrite the Global #CarbonCycle
https://scitechdaily.com/surprise-discovery-could-rewrite-the-global-carbon-cycle/

New #rhizobia-#diatom #symbiosis solves long-standing marine mystery.

#nitrogen_fixation #Tectiglobus_diatomicola

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-rhizobia-diatom-symbiosis-marine-mystery.html

Researchers bring 60-year-old dormant #algae cells to life https://phys.org/news/2024-04-year-dormant-algae-cells-life.html #protists

Temperature optima of a natural #diatom population increases as #GlobalWarming proceeds https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-01981-9

"#Researchers were able to see a noticeable change in how today's #diatoms react to higher temperatures compared to cells from the 60s. They change their gene expression, cell morphology to enhance nutrient uptake needed to support an increasingly intense #metabolism at higher temperatures"

Researchers bring 60-year-old #dormant #algae cells to life.

#resting_spore #sediment #climate_change #gene_expression #diatom #heat_shock

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-year-dormant-algae-cells-life.html

#Gene editing technology reveals molecular mechanisms governing #diatom #population density #signals.

#PtSLC24A #CRISPR #Phaeodactylum #calcium #membrane

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-gene-technology-reveals-molecular-mechanisms.html

#Arctic #Warming Triggers Abrupt #Ecosystem Shift in North America’s Deepest Lake https://eos.org/articles/arctic-warming-triggers-abrupt-ecosystem-shift-in-north-americas-deepest-lake paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.1252

"for much of the past century, the lake’s ecosystem was dominated by A. islandica—a heavy #diatom shaped like a tin can. Beginning in the mid-90s, a heterotrophic array of small, buoyant #plankton about a tenth that size began to muscle in. By the mid-2010s the interlopers had completely taken over."

Structure of #diatom #photosystem supercomplex reveals its #energy transfer, #photoprotective pathways.

#fucaxanthin #FCP #photosystem_II #Lhcx

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-diatom-photosystem-supercomplex-reveals-energy.html

Some #microalgae smartly switch energy systems to support growth under nutrient limitation https://microbiologycommunity.nature.com/posts/some-microalgae-smartly-switch-energy-systems-to-support-growth-under-nutrient-limitation

#Plastid-localized #xanthorhodopsin increases #diatom biomass and ecosystem productivity in iron-limited surface oceans https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01498-5

"marine #diatoms, a globally important group of #algae can switch between #photosynthesis and a light-driven #rhodopsin proton pump to support growth in iron-deprived waters"

What do #diatom (a fascinating 700 million year old #algae) have in common with #Victorian #art?

Victorian times using a #microscope artists would arrange #diatoms into artistic patterns. Daitomist Klaus Kemp has revived a lost Victorian art. So let's admire this unusual type of art that emerged from the union of #science and art.

https://youtu.be/qxkbSk--EUY?si=yujH2lb_z9dEGjw5

First photo by Watson & Sons

Second photo by Klaus Kemp

Third photo by Harold Dalton

New pathway of #diatom-mediated #calcification and its impact on the biological pump.

#Skeletonema #carbon_cycling #biogeochemistry

https://phys.org/news/2023-09-pathway-diatom-mediated-calcification-impact-biological.html