ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2019
Silicified cell walls as a defensive trait in diatoms.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- Molecular and cellular insights into the parasitic infection of bloom-forming marine diatoms by Pirsonia diadema.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Seasonal Variation in Diatom Availability and Utilization by Juvenile Japanese Sea CucumberMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- The Ratio of Silicon to Chitin in Diatom Cell Walls Influences Their Resilience to Environmental Stress.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Biological and Biologically Inspired Functional Nanostructures: Insights into Structural, Optical, Thermal, and Sensing Applications.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025Review
- Inorganic carbon enrichment does not increase production of polyunsaturated aldehydes in a pelagic and benthic diatom.PloS one · 2025Article
- A siliceous arms race in pelagic plankton.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Mechanism of branching morphogenesis inspired by diatom silica formation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Algal blooms in the ocean: hot spots for chemically mediated microbial interactions.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2024Review
- Diatom-mediated food web functioning under ocean artificial upwelling.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Impact of Pacific Ocean heatwaves on phytoplankton community composition.Communications biology · 2023Article
- The Co-Evolution Aspects of the Biogeochemical Role of Phytoplankton in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Review.Biology · 2023Review
- A review of the taxonomic diversity, host-parasite interactions, and experimental research on chytrids that parasitize diatoms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
- Investigating the Morphology and Mechanics of Biogenic Hierarchical Materials at and below Micrometer Scale.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Marine macroalgae are an overlooked sink of silicon in coastal systems.The New phytologist · 2022Article
- Morphological, physiological, and transcriptional responses of the freshwater diatomFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- RNA-seq analysis reveals genes related to photosynthetic carbon partitioning and lipid production inFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Multi-Element Composition of DiatomBiology · 2021Article
- Predator-induced defence in a dinoflagellate generates benefits without direct costs.The ISME journal · 2021Article
- Review
- Eco-physiological response ofJournal of plankton researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Diatoms contribute nearly half of the marine primary production. These microalgae differ from other phytoplankton groups in having a silicified cell wall, which is the strongest known biological material relative to its density. While it has been suggested that a siliceous wall may have evolved as a mechanical protection against grazing, empirical evidence of its defensive role is limited. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that grazing by adult copepods and nauplii on diatoms is approximately inversely proportional to their silica content, both within and among diatom species. While a sixfold increase in silica content leads to a fourfold decrease in copepod grazing, silicification provides no protection against protozoan grazers that directly engulf their prey. We also found that the wall provides limited protection to cells ingested by copepods, since less than 1% of consumed cells were alive in the faecal pellets. Moreover, silica deposition in diatoms decreases with increasing growth rates, suggesting a possible cost of defence. Overall, our results demonstrate that thickening of silica walls is an effective defence strategy against copepods. This suggests that the plasticity of silicification in diatoms may have evolved as a response to copepod grazing pressure, whose specialized tools to break silicified walls have coevolved with diatoms.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.