Assi

gnmentNo#1

Submi
tt
edt
o

Si
rAbdulMaj
id

Submi
tt
edby

Gr
oup#4

Topi
c

Baci
ll
ari
ophy
ta

Pl
antPhl
ycol
ogyandBr
yol
ogy

1
Baci
ll
ari
ophy
ta:
I
ntr
oduct
ion
 Cl
ass:
Baci
l
lar
iophy
ceae

 Baci
l
lar
iophy
taisamajorgr
oupofmi
croscopi
cal
gaeandar
eamongt
hemostcommon
ty
pesofphytopl
ankt
on.

 Thi
scl
assi
srepr
esent
edbyappr
oxi
mat
ely200gener
aand600speci
es.

 Membersarecommonlyknownasdi
atomsandar
ecommonl
yfoundi
nfr
eshwat
er,
wat
er,
inairoronsoi
l
.

 Thal
l
usi
suni
cel
l
ular
,uni
nucl
eat
edi
ploi
dandshowr
adi
alorbi
l
ater
alsy
mmet
ry.

 Cellwal
lissi
l
icif
ied.Thecellwall(
frust
ule)i
scomposedofsil
i
caandconsist
soft wo
halv
es,oneofwhi choverlapstheotherli
kethel
i
donaboxI tshowschar
acteri
sti
c
secondar
ystructures.I
tisoftencall
edthesheorfr
ustul
e.

 Fr
ust
ulei
smadeupoft
woov
erl
appi
nghal
ves.

 Theupperlargerhal
fiscal
l
edast
heepi
theca,
andt
hel
owersmal
l
erov
erl
appedhal
fis
cal
ledhypotheca.

 Mostdi
atomsarephot
osy
nthet
ic,
butt
her
eareal
sospeci
est
hatl
ackchl
orophy
lland
l
iv
eheter
otrophi
cal
l
yamongdecayi
ngmari
neal
gae.

 Cel
l
sgener
all
ypossessmanydi
scoi
dort
wopl
atel
i
kechr
omat
ophor
es.

 Member softhi
sclassarealsocal
ledasgol
denbr ownalgaebecauseoft
hei
r
charact
eri
sti
cpigmentswhichincl
udecarot
enoids,f
ucoxanthi
n,di
atomi
n(di
atoxant
hin,
diadi
noxant
hin)
,besidechl
orophyl
laandchlor
ophy l
lC.

 Thest
oredf
oodpr
oduct
sar
eint
hef
orm ofoi
l
,vol
uti
nchr
ysol
ami
nar
in.

 Repr
oduct
ionoccur
sbycel
ldi
vi
sionandauxospor
efor
mat
ion.

 Mot
il
est
agespossessasi
ngl
e,ant
eri
orpant
onemat
icf
lagel
l
um.
,

 Somespeciesar
ecapabl
eofagl
i
dingmoti
li
tywhenincontactwithasur
face.Cell
swith
bil
ateral
symmet
ryar
esaidt
obepennat
e,whil
ethosewit
hr adi
alsymmetryarecal
led
centri
c.

2
  Pennatediat
omsar ef
oundinbot
hfreshwat
erandmari
nehabi
tat
s,ei
theraspl
ankt
onor
at
tachedtorocks,
etc.
;cent
ri
cdi
atomsarepredomi
nant
lymari
neandplankt
oni
c.

 Thesi
l
icaf
rust
ulesar
eani
mpor
tantconst
it
uentofdeep-
seadeposi
ts.

 Ther
ear
emor
ethan10,
000speci
esofdi
atoms.

 Theymaybesol
i
tar
yori
ncol
oni
es.Wheni
ncol
oni
es,
theyf
ormv
ari
ousshapes,
e.g.
ri
bbons,

 zi
gzags,
star
s,orf
ans.

 Thecel
lsi
zemayr
angef
rom 2t
o200mi
cromet
ers.

Et
ymol
ogy
Theter
m diatom camefr
om theAnci
entGr
eekdi
á,meani
ng“
thr
ough”andt
émnei
n,meani
ng“
to
cut
”.Synonyms:bacil
l
ari
ophy
te.

Ev
olut
ionofBaci
ll
iar
ophy
ta
Weassumet hatdi atomsar oseataf airl
year lyper i
odandcer tainlylongbef oretheCr et aceous,
whent hef i
rstfossil diatomswer edeposi ted.A` pre-diatom' stagei senv i
sageddur i
ngwhi cha
nakedphot osy ntheticcel lacqui redacoat i
ngofsi li
ceousscal es.Thi swasf oll
owedbyan` Ur-
diatom' stagewhent hesi l
iceousscal esdifferent i
atedt oformv alvesandgi rdl
ebands, t
ogi v
ea
recogni zablebutext remel ysi mpl ediatom.Ev idencef orsuchdev elopmenti sindirectandwe
discusst hisfrom t hest andpoi ntoft hest r
uct ureofscal esofmoder ndiatom auxospor es,
symmet r
yofi nit
ialval ves, homol ogyofv alv
esandgi rdlebands, compar ativemor phol ogyof
auxospor escales/ valves/ girdl
ebandsandt hedev elopment al sequencesofmoder ndi atom
valvef ormat i
on.Fr om adi scussi onoft heav ailabl
edat aandl eaningheav i
lyonel ectron
mi croscopest udi eswesuggestt hatthereisv eryconsi derableev idencetosubst anti
at eour
hypot hesis.

(a)I
tisproposedt
hatatsometimebefor
etheCret
aceousthespher
ical
predi
atom st
agear
ose,
possessi
ngeukary
oti
cplantor
ganel
lesanddev
elopedsil
i
ceousscal
es.

(b)Suchscal
eshavebeenreportedfrom t
heauxospor
esofsever
alcentr
icdiat
omsandt
hei
r
morphol
ogyisvi
rt
uall
yident
ical
tot hesi
mpl estv
alv
estr
uct
ureofcentr
icdiat
oms.

(c)Thesil
iceousscal
esprobabl
yarosebyspeci
ali
zati
onofcyt
oplasmicmembranesyst
ems
associ
atedwithbi
ochemicaldev
elopment
sleadi
ngt osi
li
cadeposit
ion.Wedonot,
however
,

3
excl
udet hepossi
bil
i
tyofasymbiot
icev
enti
nvol
vi
ngtheincor
por
ati
onofasil
ica`
skel
eton'
consi
stingofplat
es,butwehav
enosuggest
ionofanygr
oupoforgani
smsthatmayhave
contr
ibutedsuchawal l
.

(
d)Thenex
tst
agesi
nvol
vedt
hespeci
ali
zat
ionofapi
cal
scal
est
ofor
mrudi
ment
aryv
alv
es

(e)Weassumet hatgi
rdl
ebandswer
ealsoderi
vedfr
om scales,
whichthendev
elopedint
ohoop
-l
ikest
ruct
ures.Somemoderngener
a,howev
er,hav
escalel
ikecingul
a,whi
chmayr epr
esenta
primi
ti
vestate.

(f)Thatbothvalvesandgirdl
ebandswer eder
ivedf
rom simil
arpr
ecursorsi
sshownbyt he
similar
ityofar
eolarplat
esinbothcomponentsinmanymoder ngenera.Thefi
mbr i
aeonone
edgeofmoder ngir
dlebandsarear el
i
cofthefimbri
ateedgesontheprimori
dalscales.
Fimbr i
ateedgesont hebandsaroundtheauxospor
esofpennatediat
omsar eprobablyalso
reli
ctfeatur
es

(g)Theexist
enceofdome- shapedi
niti
alvalvesi
ncentri
cgenerat
hatother
wisehav
ePet
ri
-di
sh-
l
ikeorcyli
ndri
calveget
ati
vev al
ves,
isfurt
hersupportforthehy
pothesi
sandmaybeacaseof
ontogenyprovi
dingafurt
herindi
cati
onoft hephyl
ogeny

(h)Development alsequencesoft hev alveofmoder ndiatomsf itwell

wi t
hascal eor i
gin,si
nce
botharef ormedf r
om ani ni
ti
alcent ral diskofsili
caf r
om whi chsili
caribsradiat
e, cr
ossbar s
form andar eol
aear elai
ddowni nt hespacesbet weencost ae.( i
)Poreplatesdonotf ormin
auxosporescal es,whichisfur
therev idencet hatthesear eevoluti
onaryyoungst ructures.(
j)
Thishypot heti
calschemeofev olutioni s,webelieve,welldocument edandcanf orm an
adequatebasi sforthederiv
ati
onoft het hreeclassicalseri
es(centri
c,araphidandr aphid)of
diat
oms.

Phy
logenyoft
heBaci
ll
ari
ophy
ta:
Becauseofthesil
iceousskeletonanext ensi
vefossi
lrecor
dofdiat
omsi sknownanda
di
scussionofphyl
ogenybasedont hef ossil
evi
denceispossi
blewit
hdiatomstoa
muchlargerext
entthanwi t
hot heralgae.Centr
icfor
msappeartobet hemostpri
mit
ive
appeari
ngfir
sti
ntheJur assic,
wher easthepennateformsdonotmaket hei
rfi
rst
appearanceunt
ilt
heTer t
iaryperi
od.

Theev
idenceal
sosuggest
sthatt
hepennat
efor
mswer
eder
ivedf
rom t
hecent
ri
cfor
ms.

Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionofBaci
ll
ari
ophy
ta:
Sy
stemat
icPosi
ti
on:

Cl
ass:
Baci
l
lar
iophy
ceae

Or
der
:Pennal
es

4
Fami
l
y:Nav
icul
oideae

Genus:
Nav
icul

Baci
ll
ari
ophy
ceaeisataxonomiccl
asscompri
sedofpennat
ebaci
l
lar
iophy
tes.I
twasf
ormer
ly
pl
acedunderPhy
lum Chrysophy
taandi
ncl
udesall
diat
oms.

I).Later,
vandenHoeketal .1995sy st
em ofclassi
fi
cati
onconsider
edBaci l
l
ari
ophyceaeasa
classbelongingtoPhyl
um Heterokontophyt
a.Howev er
,morerecenttaxonomiccl
assif
icat
ion
regardsthisclassasagroupofpennat eorfeat
herl
ikedi
atomsandnotal lki
ndsofdiatomsas
whatpr evi
oussy st
emsdidandbel ongstoPhy l
um Baci
ll
ari
ophyta.

Cl
assBaci
l
lar
iophy
ceaehasbeendi
vi
dedi
ntot
woor
der
s.Pennal
esandCent
ral
es.

Or
der
:Cent
ral
es:

1.Thal
l
usr
adi
all
ysy
mmet
ri
cal
.

2.Gl
i
dingmov
ementabsent
.

3.Sexual
repr
oduct
ionani
sogamousoroogamous.

4.Gamet
esar
emot
il
e.

Or
der
:Pennal
es:

1.Member
sar
ebi
l
ater
all
ysy
mmet
ri
cal
.

2.Cel
l
sshowgl
i
dingmov
ement
.

3.Sexual
repr
oduct
ioni
s

Fami
ly
:Nav
icul
oideae:

(
i)Member
sar
efr
eshwat
eri
nhabi
tat
.

(
ii
)Val
vev
iewi
sboatshaped.

(
ii
i)Raphei
spr
esenti
nbot
hthev
alv
es.

I
.Or
derCent
ral
es:
Valvescir
cular
,polygonalorir
regul
arinout
li
neandwithanornamentati
onont hewal
l;
ornamentati
onradialorconcentri
caboutacentr
alpoi
nt;v
alvesneverhavearapheor
pseudoraphe;prot
oplastwithmanychr o­matophor
es;st
atospor
esormi cr
osporesmaybe
formed;auxosporeformationmainlybyoogamy.

5
I
I.Or
derPennal
es:
Valvesbi
lat
erall
ysymmet ri
cal
orasymmet r
ical
insurf
aceview;wal
lornamentati
onbi
l
ater
alwi
th
respectt
oal i
ne;val
vealwayswit
har apheorpseudor
aphe;prot
opl
astwithoneortwo
chromatophores;st
atospor
esormicr
o­spor esareneverf
ormed;auxospor
ef or
mati
onmainl
y
byisogamy.

SomeI
ndi
anspeci
es:

Cymbell
aaf
fini
sKut
z.Eunoti
apecti
nal
i
svar.gi
bbulosusVenkat
.Eunoti
apecti
nal
i
sv ar.negl
ect
a
Gandhi;
Nav
icul
acry
ptocephal
oidesHust
.;Nei
dium graci
l
eHustedt
.;Pi
nnul
ari
agraci
loides
Hustedt
.

Gener
alchar
act
eri
sti
cs
1.Uni
cel
l
ularpi
l
l-boxt
ypeofpl
antbodycomposedoft
wov
alv
es.

2.Si
l
icai
mpr
egnat
edcel
lwal
lwi
thbeaut
if
ulmar
kings.

3.Cel
lwalldeposi
ti
onpr
oducesdi
atomaceousear
thwhi
chhasgr
eateconomi
c
i
mportance.

4.Speci
ali
zedv
eget
ati
vecel
ldi
vi
sion.

5.Auxospor
efor
mat
ion.

Thev ar
iouspartsareasfol
l
ows: (1)nucl
eus(2)nucl
eolus,(
3)Golgiapparat
us,(4)cel
lwall
,(5)
pyrenoi
d( cent
erofcarbonf
ixati
on),(
6)chromatophor
e, (
7)vacuol
es,(8)cyt
oplasmicstr
ands
thathol
dt henucleus(9)mi
tochondri
a,and(10)val
vesorstri
aethatall
ownut r
ientsi
n,and
wasteout, oft
hecell.

 Fr
ust
ule
Achar acteri
sticfeat
ureofdiat
om cell
sisthatt heyareencasedwi thinauniquecellwal
lmade
ofsil
ica(hy dratedsi
li
condioxi
de).Thesil
iceouscel l
wal l
iscall
edf rust
ule.Thesewall
sshowa
widedi v
ersityinform,somequitebeautif
ulandor nate,butusual
lyconsi stoftwosymmetri
cal
sideswithaspl i
tbetweenthem,hencethegr oupname.Di atomst hatshowr adial
symmetryar
e
refer
redtoascent ri
cdiat
oms.Thoset hatshowbi lat
eralsymmet r
yar eof t
enfoundamong
pennatedi atoms.

Frustul
eisfor
medbydeposit
ingsi
licat
othecel
lwal
l
.Si
l
icai
ssy
nthesi
zedi
nsi
det
hecel
l
throughthepol
ymer
izat
ionofsi
li
cicaci
dmonomers.

 Thecae

6
Diatom cellhastwodisti
ncthalves:thehypotheca(thesl i
ghtl
ysmal l
ertheca)andt heepit
heca
(theslight
lylar
gertheca)
.Theset wot hecaeoftenoverlap.Agi r
dlecall
edcingulum connects
thetwohal vesofthecell
.Duringcelldivi
sion,eachdaught ercell
recei
vesoneoft hetwohalves
andt hengrowst heotherhal
f,onlysmal l
er.Ascelldi
visionprogresses,succeedingprogeny
cell
st endtobecomesmal l
eruntilsuchtimethatthepr ogenycellwil
lnol ongerdivi
debutform
anauxospor ethatcanexpandi nsize.

 Pi
gment
s
Diatomshav eyel
lowi
sh-
browntool
ive-
brownchlor
opl
ast
sduetothepredominanceof
chlorophyll(
aandc),
car
otenoi
ds(f
ucoxanthi
n),
andxant
hophy
ll
s.Thei
rchlor
oplast
saref
our
-
membr aned.

Di
ver
seFor
msofDi
atomsandt
hei
rWal
lOr
nament
ati
ons
Thediatom cel
l,
knownasf rust
ule,iscomposedoft woov er
lappi
nghalves,orvalv
esveryni
cel
y
fi
tt
edoneupont heot herli
keanol df ashionedpi
ll
-box,orapairofpet
ridish.Ofthetwohalv
es,
theouteroneistheepithecaandt hei nnerthehy
pot hec.Theedgesofthet wohalvesar
emor e
orlessincur
ved,toget
herformingt hegi r
dle.

Whenoneortheotherval
veisseen,
iti
sknownasval
ve-
view,
andi
ngir
dle-v
iewthegir
dlei
s
vi
sibl
e.Thedi
atom cel
lwal
li
scomposedofpecti
csubst
anceswhi
char
ei mpregnat
edwith
si
li
ca.

Thesi l
i
ceousmat eri
alinsteadofbeingdeposi
tedasasmoot hlayer,
formsdiff
erentpatter
ns
whichv aryaccordingtot hegenusandspecies.Butusuall
ytheor namentat
ionfol
lowst wo
generalpat t
erns,f
orexampl e,
int
hecentri
cdiatoms(Central
es)r adi
all
ysymmet r
icalabouta
centralpoint,ordr
um- l
ike,andinthepennatediat
oms( Pennales)bil
ater
all
ysym­met ri
calwi
th
respecttot helongaxisoft hecel
l.

Onthebackofeachval
veofmostelongat
edt
ypesther
eareli
nearper
for
ati
onsformi
ng
l
ongit
udi
nalsl
it
,cal
ledt
heraphe.Butwhenwi
thoutl
ongit
udi
nalsl
iti
sthepseudor
aphe.

Therearealsostr
uctur
almodif
icat
ionsofthecellwal
lfor
mingthi
ckeningswhichareknownas
nodul
es,appear
ingatbothendsofraphe—polarnodul
es,andi
nter
rupti
ngitnearthemid-
poi
nt—thecentr
alnodul
e.

Themar ki
ngsoft hewall
,rapheandnodul
esconst
it
utetaxonomi
ccri
ter
ia.Theprotopl
astofa
di
atom cel
l f
ormsal i
ninglayercl
osel
yadpr
essedt
ot hecell
wall
andgeneral
lysurr
oundinga
l
argecentralvacuol
e.

Rel
ati
onshi
psoft
heBaci
ll
ari
ophy
ta:
Thecel
lst
ruct
uresuggest
sthatt
hedi
atomsar
eassoci
atedwi
tht
heConj
ugal
espar
ti
cul
arl
y
wit
hthedesmids.

7
Thepresenceoff
ucoxant
hinandchl
orophy
llaandchl
orophy
llcsuggest
scl
oserassoci
ati
on
wit
hthePhaeophyta.

Paschersuggest
edar
elat
ionshi
pwi
tht
heXant
hophy
taandChr
ysophy
taandcl
assi
fi
ed
di
atomsunderChr
yosophy
taf
orhav
inggol
den-
brownpi
gmentandsi
mil
arassi
mil
ati
onpr
oduct
.

Sincediatomsarelar
gel
yassociat
edwit
hthePeri
dineaef
ormingplankt
onfloraoftheocean,
somer elati
onshi
phasbeendrawnbythephycol
ogi
stsbetweentheBacil
lar
iophyt
aandt he
Peridi
neae.

Repr
oduct
ioni
nBaci
ll
ari
ophy
ta
Diat
om cel l
smultipl
yusuall
ybyapecul iarmethodofcell
divi
sion.Anincr
easeinthevolumeof
thefr
ustuleresul
tsinaslightseparati
onofthev al
veswhichi
sf ol
lowedbymi t
oti
cdivi
sionof
thenucleuswiththeaxisofthespi ndl
ebeingparal
lelt
otheshortaxisofthecel
ltoensure
l
ongitudinaldi
vi
sionoftheprotoplast.

Thedivisi
onoft heprotoplastalongthemedianlineofthelongaxisfoll
owsi mmedi
atelyaft
er
thenucleardivisionr
esul t
ingint hefor
mati
onoft wodaught erprot
oplastsandul
ti
­mat el
ythe
celldi
vi
desi ntot wo,
wi theachhal fhavi
nghalfoft heol
dwal l
andthesi deal
ongtheplaneof
celldi
vi
sionisboundedbyapr otopl
asmicmembr ane,t
hesurfaceofwhi chi
scover
edby‘ anew
halfWallsecretedbyt hepr otoplast
.

Cel
lSt
ruct
ureandCel
lDi
vi
sioni
nthePennal
es

Inspeci
esofelongat
edcel
ls,
thevacuol
eisfr
equent
lybri
dgesinthemiddl
ebyabandof
cyt
oplasm i
nwhi chi
sembeddedthelar
genucl
eus(Fi
g.99B&D) .Dependi
ngonspeci
es,
the
cel
l maycontai
nonetomanydiscoi
dorirr
egul
arl
yshapedplast
idswhichar
eyel
l
owt obr
ownin
colour
.

Pigmentsofadi at
om cel l
are:chlorophyl
la,chl
orophyl
lc,f
ucoxanthinandaspecial
pigment—diatomincastingagol den-brownhuet othedi
atom cel
l.Star
chisneverformedin
diat
oms; onthecontrary,t
her eservefoodsarefatsandvol
uti
n.Diatom cel
l
sofsomespeci es
exhibi
tmov ementwhi chisslowandj erkyandconf i
nedtofor
wardandbackwarddi rect
ions.

Causeofmovementhasbeenatopicofconsi
derabl
einter
est.Themov
ementmaybeduet
o
thefl
owofcur
rent
sofwaterorbythecir
culat
ionofcyt
oplasm.

Aft
erthedeathofdi
atom cel
ls,
thei
rsi
l
iceouswall
s,oremptyfr
ustulesdri
ftt
othebot t
om ofthe
bodyofwaterinwhi
chtheyoccurandti
nderfav
ourablecondi
ti
onst her
eaccumulatesalar
ge
deposi
tofdiat
om wall
s,knownasdiat
omaceousearth.Duri
ngter
tiaryandquat
ernaryagesthe

8
f
ormat
ionofdi
atomaceousear
thwassogr
eatt
hatt
hegr
eatdeposi
ti
onwasf
ormedi
nocean.

Suchdeposit
ioni
sknownasdi
atomit
eorkisegurh.Di
atomi
tebecauseofi
tsporosi
ty,
isl
ighti
n
weightandcanst
andhight
emperat
ure.I
tsmelti
ngpointi
s175°C.Diat
omi
teisusedinvari
ous
i
ndustri
es.

Someoft hem are:

usedi npoli
shesf orsi
lv
erware,metal
s,etc.
;pr
eparati
onoft
oothpowders;
i
nsulat
ionofsteam pipesandbl astfur
naces;t
of i
l
teroil
s;asanabsorbentf
ort
heliqui
dnit
ro-
gl
yceri
neindynami t
ef orsafet
yintransport
ati
on;usedinsugar-r
efi
neri
es;i
nbrewi
ngindustr
y;
andinmanufacturi
ngant i
bioti
cstoremov ewastemy cel
ium.

Atf
ir
stAlfr
edNobel
useddi
atomi
teasanabsor
berofhi
ghl
yexpl
osi
veni
tr
o-gl
ycer
inewhenhe
manufact
ureddy
namit
e.

St
atospor
eFor
mat
ioni
ntheCent
ral
es:

Manyoft heCentr
aleshavebeenfoundtoproducei
ntheirf
rustul
es,t
hick-
walledr
estingspores
knownasst at
ospores.Thest
atosporesaref
ormedduri
ngunf avour
ableseasonalcondit
ion.
Thedetai
lsofthei
rdev el
opmentarenotknown.Thest
atosporesareveryfr
equentinmar ine
speci
es,butareal
sof oundi
nfresh-
waterones.

Buoy
ancy
Diatomsareablet
ostaysuspendedthroughv ar
iousmechani
sms.Someoft hem for
m spi
nes
andf or
m chai
nstosl
owt hei
rsi
nkingrateIonicpumpsalsohel
ptoregul
atebouyancy.Some
producemucil
agetoadheretoandgli
det hroughasoli
dsubstr
ate,
suchasonaf loat
ingdebr
is

oronmacr
ophy
tes.

Economi
cImpor
tance
a)Di
atomsar
eani
mpor
tantsour
ceoff
oodt
oaquat
icani
mal
s.

(
b)Di
atom deposi
tsar
eof
tenaccompai
nedbypet
rol
eum f
iel
ds.

(c)Di
atomitei
spor
ousandchemi
cal
l
yiner
t,
ther
efor
eusedi
nfi
l
trat
ionofsugar
,al
cohol
sand
anti
biot
ics.

(
d)I
tisal
soempl
oyedasacl
eansi
ngagenti
ntoot
hpast
esandmet
alpol
i
shes.

(
e)I
tisal
soempl
oyedasi
nsul
ati
onmat
eri
ali
nref
ri
ger
ator
s,boi
l
ersandf
urnaces.

9
f)Thedi atomsar etheuniqueorganisms, becauseoft heirdi
sti
ncti
vecellwall
s.Thewallsare
embeddedwi thsil
icaandthusthewal l
sar eindestructi
ble.I
tshowscul pt
uri
ngand
ornament ati
onthatwhyDi atomsarealsocal ledas‘ Pear
lsofOcean’.Diat
omshav elef
tbehind
l
argeamountofcel l
wall
depositsintheirhabitat
;thisaccumulationoverbil
l
ionsofyearsis
refer
redtoas‘ di
atomaceousear t
h’.Beinggr i
ttyt
hissoi l
isusedinpolishi
ng,fi
lt
rat
ionofoil
s
andsy r
ups.Di at
omsar ethechief‘
producer s’int
heoceans.

g)Diat
omsar ereferr
edtoasthejewelsoft
heseabecauseofthei
rstr
uctur
alcolorat
ion.They
ar
emaj oroxygenpr oducer
sonEar t
h.Theygener
ateabout20%oxygenannual
ly.Theyarealso
animportantsourceofsili
cont
hroughthei
rshell
.

h)Someofthediatom speci
esarecapabl
eoff
ixi
ngni
tr
ogenduet
othecy
anobact
eri
al
endosy
mbi
ontresidingi
nthediat
oms.

i
)Diatomaceousearthordi
atomit
eisacollect
ionofdiat
om shell
sint
heeart
h’scr
ust
.Itis
composedoft hefossi
li
zedremai
nsofdiatoms.Iti
susedi nthei
ndust
ryf
orvari
ouspurposes.
Forinst
ance,i
tisusedinwaterf
il
trat
ionandasami ldabrasi
ve.

Exampl
es
Pinnul
ari
aisanelongat
ed,el
li
pti
caldi
atom cov
eredinamucil
aginouslay
er.Thegenusbel
ongs
tothefamil
yPinnul
ari
aceae,
orderNavi
culal
es,cl
assBaci
l
lar
iophyceae.

NaviculaisagenusthatbelongstothefamilyNavi
culaceae,orderNaviculal
es,class
Bacil
lari
ophyceae.Speci
esofthisgenusappearli
keaboat ,thus,thename( Latinnavicul
a,
meani ng“smallshi
p”)
.Iti
sthegenust hatpr
oducesaboutaquar t
eroft heeart
h’soxy gen.
Member softhi
sgenusalsoserveaskey st
onespeciesast heyserveasf oodformanyaquat i
c
species.

Chaetocer
osisoneofthelargestgener
aofplanktoni
cdiat
omsi
nmar
inewat
ers.I
tbel
ongst
o
thefamil
yChaetocer
otaceae,cl
assCoscinodi
scophyceae.

Baci
ll
ariai
sagenusofthefamil
yBaci
ll
ari
aceae,or
derBaci
ll
ari
ales,
classBaci
ll
ari
ophyceae.
Member soft
hisgenushav
eelongat
edcell
s.Theysli
depasteachothertofor
m stacked
col
onies.

10