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Science 5 November 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5442, p. 1049
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5442.1049d
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This Week in Science

Diatoms are able to produce highly organized nanostructured silica cell walls at ambient temperatures and at high rates. The initial formation of a silica sphere is regulated by biomolecules, but their characterization has remained difficult. Kröger et al. (p. 1129; see the news story by Amato) show that these biomolecules--called silaffins--are polycationic peptides that contain posttranslational modifications crucial for their activity at the pH conditions relevant for biosilicification in diatoms. When silaffins were added to solutions of silicic acid, silica nanospheres were generated in a few seconds.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)