CHAPTER 2. Interactions of Diatoms with Their Fluid Environment

Rosengarten, Gary; Herringer, James

doi:10.1039/9781788010160-00014

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To date, the biological functions of porous silica in diatoms have remained speculative including protection against hard UV light, acquisition of photosynthtically relevant radiation, and nutrient uptake 3,4,63 . Being able to predictably alter the pore patterns in silica through genetic manipulation of dAnks provides unprecedented opportunities for testing such hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molecular basis for pore pattern morphogenesis in diatom silica

Heintze

Babenko

Suchanova

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biomineral-forming organisms produce inorganic materials with complex, genetically encoded morphologies that are unmatched by current synthetic chemistry. It is poorly understood which genes are involved in biomineral morphogenesis and how the encoded proteins guide this process. We addressed these questions using diatoms, which are paradigms for the self-assembly of hierarchically meso- and macroporous silica under mild reaction conditions. Proteomics analysis of the intracellular organelle for silica biosynthesis led to the identification of new biomineralization proteins. Three of these, coined dAnk1-3, contain a common protein–protein interaction domain (ankyrin repeats), indicating a role in coordinating assembly of the silica biomineralization machinery. Knocking out individual dank genes led to aberrations in silica biogenesis that are consistent with liquid–liquid phase separation as underlying mechanism for pore pattern morphogenesis. Our work provides an unprecedented path for the synthesis of tailored mesoporous silica materials using synthetic biology.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molecular basis for pore pattern morphogenesis in diatom silica

Heintze

Babenko

Suchanova

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To date, the biological functions of porous silica in diatoms have remained speculative including protection against hard UV light, acquisition of photosynthetically relevant radiation, and nutrient uptake (3,50). Being able to predictably alter the pore patterns in silica through genetic manipulation of dAnks provides unprecedented opportunities for testing such hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molecular basis for pore pattern morphogenesis in diatom silica

Heintze

Babenko

Suchanova

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biomineral forming organisms produce inorganic materials with complex, genetically encoded morphologies that are unmatched by current synthetic chemistry. It is poorly understood which genes are involved in biomineral morphogenesis and how the encoded proteins guide this process. We addressed these questions using diatoms, which are paradigms for the self-assembly of hierarchically meso- and macroporous silica under mild reaction conditions. Proteomics analysis of the intracellular organelle for silica biosynthesis led to identification of new biomineralization proteins. Three of these, dAnk1-3, are largely specific to diatoms and contain a common protein-protein interaction domain (ankyrin repeats), indicating a role in coordinating assembly of the silica biomineralization machinery. Knocking out individual dank genes led to aberrations in silica biogenesis that are consistent with liquid-liquid phase separation as underlying mechanism for pore pattern morphogenesis. Our work provides an unprecedented path for the synthesis of tailored meso- and macroporous silicas using Synthetic Biology.

show abstract