A Proton Buffering Role for Silica in Diatoms

  • Allen J. Milligan
    Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
  • François M. M. Morel
    Department of Geosciences, Guyot Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

書誌事項

公開日
2002-09-13
DOI
  • 10.1126/science.1074958
公開者
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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説明

<jats:p> For 40 million years, diatoms have dominated the reverse weathering of silica on Earth. These photosynthetic protists take up dissolved silicic acid from the water and precipitate opaline silica to form their cell wall. We show that the biosilica of diatoms is an effective pH buffer, enabling the enzymatic conversion of bicarbonate to CO <jats:sub>2</jats:sub> , an important step in inorganic carbon acquisition by these organisms. Because diatoms are responsible for one-quarter of global primary production and for a large fraction of the carbon exported to the deep sea, the global cycles of Si and C may be linked mechanistically. </jats:p>

収録刊行物

  • Science

    Science 297 (5588), 1848-1850, 2002-09-13

    American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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