Identification of proteins from a cell wall fraction of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana: insights into silica structure formation.

Diatoms are unicellular eucaryotic algae with cell walls containing silica, intricately and ornately structured on the nanometer scale. Overall silica structure is formed by expansion and molding of the membrane-bound silica deposition vesicle. Although molecular details of silica polymerization are being clarified, we have limited insight into molecular components of the silica deposition vesicle, particularly of membrane-associated proteins that may be involved in structure formation.