scholarly journals A new view into the silica deposition vesicles of diatoms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Heintze ◽  
Petr Formanek ◽  
Darius Pohl ◽  
Jannes Hauptstein ◽  
Bernd Rellinghaus ◽  
...  

Abstract Diatoms are single-celled microalgae that produce silica-based cell walls with intricate nano- and micropatterns. Biogenesis of diatom biosilica is a bottom-up process that occurs in large intracellular compartments termed silica deposition vesicles (SDVs). Investigating the mechanism of silica morphogenesis has so far been severely limited by the lack of methods for imaging the entire volume of an SDV with high spatial resolution during all stages of development. Here we have developed a method that allows for rapid identification and electron microscopy imaging of many different, full sized SDVs that are in the process of producing biosilica valves. This enabled visualizing the development of characteristic morphological biosilica features with unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. During early to mid-term development, valve SDVs contained ~20 nm sized particles that were primarily associated with the radially expanding rib-like biosilica structures. The results from electron dispersive X-ray analysis suggests that the immature biosilica patterns are silica-organic composites. This supports the hypothesis that silica morphogenesis is dependent on organic biomolecules inside the SDV lumen.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Heintze ◽  
Petr Formanek ◽  
Darius Pohl ◽  
Jannes Hauptstein ◽  
Bernd Rellinghaus ◽  
...  

Abstract Diatoms are single-celled microalgae that produce silica-based cell walls with intricate nano- and micropatterns. Biogenesis of diatom biosilica is a bottom-up process that occurs in large intracellular compartments termed silica deposition vesicles (SDVs). Investigating the mechanism of silica morphogenesis has so far been severely limited by the lack of methods for imaging the entire volume of an SDV with high spatial resolution during all stages of development. Here we have developed a method that allows for rapid identification and electron microscopy imaging of many different, full sized SDVs that are in the process of producing biosilica valves. This enabled visualizing the development of characteristic morphological biosilica features with unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. During early to mid-term development, valve SDVs contained ~ 20 nm sized particles that were primarily associated with the radially expanding rib-like biosilica structures. The results from electron dispersive X-ray analysis suggests that the immature biosilica patterns are silica-organic composites. This supports the hypothesis that silica morphogenesis is dependent on organic biomolecules inside the SDV lumen.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Heintze ◽  
Petr Formanek ◽  
Darius Pohl ◽  
Jannes Hauptstein ◽  
Bernd Rellinghaus ◽  
...  

Abstract Diatoms are single-celled microalgae that produce silica-based cell walls with intricate nano- and micropatterns. Biogenesis of diatom biosilica is a bottom-up process that occurs in large intracellular compartments termed silica deposition vesicles (SDVs). Investigating the mechanism of silica morphogenesis has so far been severely limited by the lack of methods for imaging the entire volume of an SDV with high spatial resolution during all stages of development. Here we have developed a method that allows for rapid identification and electron microscopy imaging of many different, full sized SDVs that are in the process of producing biosilica valves. This enabled visualizing the development of characteristic morphological biosilica features with unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. During early to mid-term development, valve SDVs contained ~20 nm sized particles that were primarily associated with the radially expanding rib-like biosilica structures. The results from electron dispersive X-ray analysis suggests that the immature biosilica patterns are silica-organic composites. This supports the hypothesis that silica morphogenesis is dependent on organic biomolecules inside the SDV lumen.


Author(s):  
A. D. Romig ◽  
J. R. Michael

High spatial resolution x-ray microanalysis in the analytical electron microscope (AEM) describes a technique by which chemical composition can be determined on spatial scales of less than 50 nm. Dependent upon the size of the incident probe, the energy (voltage) of the beam, the average atomic number of the material being analyzed, and the thickness of the specimen at the point of analysis it is possible to measure uniquely the composition of a region 2-20 nm in diameter. Conventional thermionic (tungsten or LaB6) AEMs can attain direct spatial resolutions as small as 20 nm, while field emission (PEG) AEM's can attain direct spatial resolutions approaching 2 nm. Recently, efforts have been underway to extract compositional information on a finer spatial scale by using massively parallel Monte Carlo electron trajectory simulations coupled with AEM measurements. By deconvolving the measured concentration profile with the calculated x-ray generation profile it is possible to extract compositional information at near atomic resolution.


Author(s):  
John B. Vander Sande ◽  
Thomas F. Kelly ◽  
Douglas Imeson

In the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) a fine probe of electrons is scanned across the thin specimen, or the probe is stationarily placed on a volume of interest, and various products of the electron-specimen interaction are then collected and used for image formation or microanalysis. The microanalysis modes usually employed in STEM include, but are not restricted to, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and microdiffraction.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 4307-4321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim ◽  
Yehia Abbas

The physical properties of ferrites are verysensitive to microstructure, which in turn critically dependson the manufacturing process.Nanocrystalline Lithium Stannoferrite system Li0.5+0.5XFe2.5-1.5XSnXO4,X= (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0) fine particles were successfully prepared by double sintering ceramic technique at pre-sintering temperature of 500oC for 3 h andthepre-sintered material was crushed and sintered finally in air at 1000oC.The structural and microstructural evolutions of the nanophase have been studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and the Rietveld method.The refinement results showed that the nanocrystalline ferrite has a two phases of ordered and disordered phases for polymorphous lithium Stannoferrite.The particle size of as obtained samples were found to be ~20 nm through TEM that increases up to ~ 85 nmand isdependent on the annealing temperature. TEM micrograph reveals that the grains of sample are spherical in shape. (TEM) analysis confirmed the X-ray results.The particle size of stannic substituted lithium ferrite fine particle obtained from the XRD using Scherrer equation.Magneticmeasurements obtained from lake shore’s vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), saturation magnetization ofordered LiFe5O8 was found to be (57.829 emu/g) which was lower than disordered LiFe5O8(62.848 emu/g).Theinterplay between superexchange interactions of Fe3+ ions at A and B sublattices gives rise to ferrimagnetic ordering of magnetic moments,with a high Curie-Weiss temperature (TCW ~ 900 K).


Radiology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 275 (1) ◽  
pp. 310-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Morris ◽  
Lang Yang ◽  
Miguel A. Martín-Fernández ◽  
Jose M. Pozo ◽  
Alejandro F. Frangi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3539
Author(s):  
Anastasia Meretoudi ◽  
Christina N. Banti ◽  
Panagiotis K. Raptis ◽  
Christina Papachristodoulou ◽  
Nikolaos Kourkoumelis ◽  
...  

The oregano leaves’ extract (ORLE) was used for the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs(ORLE)). ORLE and AgNPs(ORLE) (2 mg/mL) were dispersed in polymer hydrogels to give the pHEMA@ORLE_2 and pHEMA@AgNPs(ORLE)_2 using hydroxyethyl–methacrylate (HEMA). The materials were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRPD), thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), derivative thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry (DTG/DSC), ultraviolet (UV-Vis), and attenuated total reflection mode (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopies in solid state and UV–Vis in solution. The crystallite size value, analyzed with XRPD, was determined at 20 nm. The antimicrobial activity of the materials was investigated against Gram-negative bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The Gram-positive ones of the genus of Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are known to be involved in microbial keratitis by the means of inhibitory zone (IZ), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The IZs, which developed upon incubation of P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. epidermidis, and S. aureus with paper discs soaked in 2 mg/mL of AgNPs(ORLE), were 11.7 ± 0.7, 13.5 ± 1.9, 12.7 ± 1.7, and 14.3 ± 1.7 mm. When the same dose of ORLE was administrated, the IZs were 10.2 ± 0.7, 9.2 ± 0.5, 9.0 ± 0.0, and 9.0 ± 0.0 mm. The percent of bacterial viability when they were incubated over the polymeric hydrogel discs of pHEMA@AgNPs(ORLE)_2 was interestingly low (66.5, 88.3, 77.7, and 59.6%, respectively, against of P. aeruginosa, E. coli, S. epidermidis, and S. aureus) and those of pHEMA@ORLE_2 were 89.3, 88.1, 92.8, and 84.6%, respectively. Consequently, pHEMA@AgNPs(ORLE)_2 could be an efficient candidate toward the development of non-infectious contact lenses.


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