Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36717559›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Exocytosis of the silicified cell wall of diatoms involves extensive membrane disintegration.

Diede de Haan, Lior Aram, Hadas Peled-Zehavi, Yoseph Addadi, Oz Ben-Joseph, Ron Rotkopf, Nadav Elad, Katya Rechav, Assaf Gal

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Big evolutionary fireworks in tiny glass houses.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  7. Review
  8. Hexagonal Patterns in Diatom Silica Form via a Directional Two-Step Process.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Diede de HaanDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Lior AramDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0002-3890-0456
Hadas Peled-ZehaviDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0001-8169-5104
Yoseph AddadiLife Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0001-9827-0436
Oz Ben-JosephDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0001-7670-407X
Ron RotkopfLife Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0001-9503-7348
Nadav EladDepartment of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID 0000-0001-6222-2280
Katya RechavDepartment of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Assaf GalDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. assaf.gal@weizmann.ac.il.ORCID 0000-0003-1488-1227
Weizmann Institute of Science · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Diatoms are unicellular algae characterized by silica cell walls. These silica elements are known to be formed intracellularly in membrane-bound silica deposition vesicles and exocytosed after completion. How diatoms maintain membrane homeostasis during the exocytosis of these large and rigid silica elements remains unknown. Here we study the membrane dynamics during cell wall formation and exocytosis in two model diatom species, using live-cell confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography. Our results show that during its formation, the mineral phase is in tight association with the silica deposition vesicle membranes, which form a precise mold of the delicate geometrical patterns. We find that during exocytosis, the distal silica deposition vesicle membrane and the plasma membrane gradually detach from the mineral and disintegrate in the extracellular space, without any noticeable endocytic retrieval or extracellular repurposing. We demonstrate that within the cell, the proximal silica deposition vesicle membrane becomes the new barrier between the cell and its environment, and assumes the role of a new plasma membrane. These results provide direct structural observations of diatom silica exocytosis, and point to an extraordinary mechanism in which membrane homeostasis is maintained by discarding, rather than recycling, significant membrane patches.

Indexed as

DiatomsCell WallExocytosisOrganellesSilicon DioxideSilicon Dioxide

Identifiers

PMID36717559
PMCPMC9886994
OpenAlexW4318473907

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.