Biogenic silica accumulation in picoeukaryotes: Novel players in the marine silica cycle.

ABSTRACT: It is well known that the biological control of oceanic silica cycling is dominated by diatoms, with sponges and radiolarians playing additional roles. Recent studies have revealed that some smaller marine organisms (e.g. the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus) also take up silicic acid (dissolved silica, dSi) and accumulate silica, despite not exhibiting silicon dependent cellular structures. Here, we show biogenic silica (bSi) accumulation in five strains of picoeukaryotes (<2-3 μm), including three novel isolates from the Baltic Sea, and two marine species (Ostreococcus tauri and Micromonas commoda), in cultures grown with added dSi (100 μM). Average bSi accumulation in these novel biosilicifiers was between 30 and 92 amol Si cell^-1 . Growth rate and cell size of the picoeukary

SUBMITTER: Churakova Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10316375 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature