De Tommasi Edoardo, Rea Ilaria, Ferrara Maria Antonietta, De Stefano Luca, De Stefano Mario, Al-Handal Adil Y, Stamenković Marija, Wulff Angela
National Research Council, Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems "E. Caianiello", Via P. Castellino 111, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Department of Environmental, Biological, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Oct 26;11(11):2855. doi: 10.3390/nano11112855.
Several species of diatoms, unicellular microalgae which constitute the main component of phytoplankton, are characterized by an impressive photosynthetic efficiency while presenting a noticeable tolerance versus exposure to detrimental UV radiation (UVR). In particular, the growth rate of the araphid diatom is not significantly affected by harsh treatments with UVR, even in absence of detectable, specific UV-absorbing pigments and even if it is not able to avoid high UV exposure by motility. In this work we applied a multi-disciplinary approach involving numerical computation, photonics, and biological parameters in order to investigate the possible role of the frustule, micro- and nano-patterned silica shell which encloses the cell, in the ability of to efficiently collect photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) and to simultaneously screen the protoplasm from UVR. The characterization of the photonic properties of the frustule has been accompanied by in vivo experiments conducted in water in order to investigate its function as optical coupler between light and plastids.
硅藻是构成浮游植物主要成分的单细胞微藻，几种硅藻的特点是具有令人印象深刻的光合效率，同时对有害紫外线辐射（UVR）具有显著的耐受性。特别是，无壳缝硅藻即使在没有可检测到的特定紫外线吸收色素的情况下，即使它不能通过运动来避免高紫外线暴露，其生长速率也不会受到UVR的严苛处理的显著影响。在这项工作中，我们采用了一种多学科方法，涉及数值计算、光子学和生物学参数，以研究包围细胞的硅质壳——具有微纳图案的硅藻壳在高效收集光合有效辐射（PAR）以及同时保护原生质免受UVR影响方面的可能作用。对硅藻壳光子特性的表征伴随着在水中进行的体内实验，以研究其作为光与质体之间光耦合器的功能。
