Diatoms are single-celled algae that produce intricately structured cell walls made of nanopatterned silica (SiO(2)). The cell wall structure is a species-specific characteristic demonstrating that diatom silica morphogenesis is genetically encoded. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which a single cell executes the morphogenetic program for the formation of an inorganic material (biomineralization) is not only a fascinating biological problem, but also of great interest for nanomaterials science and technology. Recently, analysis of the organic components associated with diatom silica, the development of techniques for molecular genetic manipulation of diatoms, and two diatom genome sequencing projects are providing insight into the composition and mechanism of the remarkable biosilica-forming machinery.

中文翻译：

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硅藻-从细胞壁生物发生到纳米技术。

硅藻是单细胞藻类，可产生由纳米图案的二氧化硅（SiO（2））制成的错综复杂的细胞壁。细胞壁结构是物种特异性的特征，表明硅藻硅形态发生是遗传编码的。了解单个细胞执行用于形成无机材料（生物矿化）的形态发生程序的分子机制不仅是一个令人着迷的生物学问题，而且对于纳米材料科学和技术也具有极大的兴趣。最近，对与硅藻硅有关的有机成分的分析，硅藻的分子遗传操作技术的发展以及两个硅藻基因组测序项目正在提供对这种卓越的生物硅形成机制的组成和机理的认识。