Biology Department and Center for Life in Extreme Environments, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Astrobiology. 2010 Jul-Aug;10(6):569-76. doi: 10.1089/ast.2010.0463.
Silicification of organisms in silica-depositing environments can impact both their ecology and their presence in the fossil record. Although microbes have been silicified under laboratory and environmental conditions, viruses have not. Bacteriophage T4 was successfully silicified under laboratory conditions that closely simulated those found in silica-depositing hot springs. Virus morphology was maintained, and a clear elemental signature of phosphorus was detected by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrophotometry (EDS).
在硅沉积环境中生物的硅化作用会影响其生态和在化石记录中的存在。尽管微生物在实验室和环境条件下已经硅化，但病毒尚未硅化。噬菌体 T4 在模拟硅沉积温泉中发现的实验室条件下成功硅化。病毒形态得到了保持，并且通过能量色散 X 射线分光光度法（EDS）检测到了磷的清晰元素特征。
