Light influences most ecosystems on earth, from sun-dappled forests to bioluminescent
creatures in the ocean deep. Biologists have long studied nano-and micro-scale organismal …

Our review of the literature has revealed Southern Ocean subsurface chlorophyll-a maxima
(SCMs) to be an annually recurrent feature throughout the basin. Most of these SCMs are …

Biopolymers offer vast potential for renewable and sustainable devices. While nature
mastered the use of biopolymers to create highly complex 3D structures and optimized their …

The ability to control light at the nanoscale is at the basis of contemporary photonics and
plasmonics. In particular, properly engineered periodic nanostructures not only allow the …

The central function of frustules—transparent glass shells surrounding the diatoms—is still
enigmatic. This chapter summarizes some of the most common hypotheses related to …

Several living organisms are able to synthesize complex nanostructures provided with
peculiar physical and chemical properties by means of finely-tuned, genetically controlled …

Diatom frustules represent one of the most complex examples of micro-and nano-structured
materials found in nature, being the result of a biomineralization process refined through …

The diatoms, a unique class of microalgae, are enclosed in an extracellular, silica‐based
porous structure called the frustule. The frustule is denser than water and reduces cell …

Diatoms are unicellular organisms, and their cell walls (diatom frustules) composed of
hydrated amorphous silica have the characteristic of a delicate porous structure. Herein, we …

Diatoms are major contributors to the global oxygen and carbon cycles. Their ability to thrive
on photosynthesis, even in low and intermittent lighting conditions, is attributed to the optical …