Silica: cheap to deposit

Silica is energetically cheap to deposit. By some estimates, silica is only 6.7% as costly as cell-wall carbohydrate to deposit (Raven, Biol.Rev. 1983,58:179-207). We can imagine a diatom as a small company with energy resources devoted to different departments. As compared to another marine phytoplankter, the diatom has energy excess in its "cell walls" department, that it can transfer for use in growth, maintenance of cellular machinery, or reproduction.

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John Becker's diatoms pages copyright Becker 1996.