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Role of Silicon in Diatom Metabolism and Silicification

  • Chapter
Biochemistry of Silicon and Related Problems

Part of the book series: Nobel Foundation Symposia ((NOFS,volume 40))

Summary

Because the diatom is unique in its absolute requirement for silicate, it not only provides an experimental system par excellence for studying the biochemistry of silicon, but can also provide a model system for studying silicon in mammalian systems. Moreover, the diatom is unique in that the formation of its siliceous cell wall involves a new system of biological mineralization. Understanding this system may provide clues to the as yet little understood mechanisms leading to calcium mineralization in higher animals.

Silicate mineralization in the diatom involves two concurrent processes: (a) the formation of a silicalemma—the membrane enclosing the sequentially-formed silica-deposition vesicles; (b) transport of silicate into the cytoplasm and its translocation into the deposition vesicles. The wall itself consists of a silica “shell” enclosed within an organic casing; silicate is required for the formation of this casing also, and its very unusual and complex composition includes a number of hitherto unknown amino acids and sugars, some of which we have characterized.

Silicate uptake in diatoms involves an active transport system. Silicon is localized in mitochondria, chloroplast, vesicles, and microsomes, and uptake and localization are similar in nuclei, mitochondria, vesicles and microsomes of liver, spleen, and kidney cells of radio-labeled rats. Electron-dense silicon-containing granules occur in vivo in the mitochondria of both diatom and rat cells.

Silicon appears to be required for a variety of metabolic processes in the diatom other than wall formation. It is essential for the synthesis of DNA, by facilitating the synthesis of the two nuclear DNA polymerases, and is involved in the formation of thymidylate kinase.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, , San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Benjamin E. Volcani

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  1. Benjamin E. Volcani
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemistry, University of Uppsala, Box 531, S-751 21, Uppsala, Sweden

    Gerd Bendz

  2. Department of Chemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ingvar Lindqvist

  3. Karolinska Institutet, S-104 01, Stockholm, Sweden

    Vera Runnström-Reio

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Volcani, B.E. (1978). Role of Silicon in Diatom Metabolism and Silicification. In: Bendz, G., Lindqvist, I., Runnström-Reio, V. (eds) Biochemistry of Silicon and Related Problems. Nobel Foundation Symposia, vol 40. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-4018-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-4018-8_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4020-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-4018-8

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