%0 Journal Article
%T Regulated growth of diatom cells on self-assembled monolayers
%A Kazuo Umemura
%A Tomoaki Yamada
%A Yuta Maeda
%A Koichi Kobayashi
%A Reiko Kuroda
%A Shigeki Mayama
%J Journal of Nanobiotechnology
%D 2007
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1477-3155-5-2
%X Diatoms are one of the most major microalgae that are found everywhere ¨C in seas, lakes, and rivers [1-4]. It is known that 25% of the O2 production on earth and 40% of the carbon fixation in the ocean are carried out by the photosynthesis of diatoms [1-4]. Furthermore, the cell wall of diatoms is decorated with ornamentations of various shapes that range from rib-like structures to well-organized nanoporous holes [5-7]. Hence, diatom shells are commonly used for filters [8], carriers [9], supports for chromatography [10], and building materials [11].Because the diatom and its cell wall are very popular and because it is important for its use in bioreactors and as nanoporous material, the structures and functions of diatom cells have been intensively studied. For example, structural studies of diatom shells by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or atomic force microscopy have been carried out by many researchers [12-17]. From the biological viewpoint, the sequencing of the entire diatom genome was one of the recent remarkable projects [18]. However, few studies have proposed a technique that involves combining diatoms with nanotechnology. A pioneer study by Lebeau et al. reported on the fabrication of a photosynthetic biodevice using living diatoms [19]. They revealed that diatom cells can be cultured on agar films that are prepared on a glass surface, and that these cells can perform photosynthesis. Although this was an important study on developing biodevices by using living diatoms, no microscopic characterization of the device was included in the paper. To date, no other study has reported the development of biodevices by using living diatoms.As related works, several papers that analyzed the motility of diatom cells by using microscopes could be found [10-24]. For example, Cohn et al. described that environmental factors affect diatom motility [20]. And Holland et al. found that the strength of the adhesion of the diatoms onto a surface is independent of
%U http://www.jnanobiotechnology.com/content/5/1/2