Diatoms: Miniscule biological entities with immense importance in synthesis of targeted novel bioparticles and biomonitoring

Abstract

Diatoms are the most abundant microscopic unicellular protists in natural lotic ecosystems. They are the major component of the producer community in aquatic ecosystems that also play important roles in biostratigraphy, paleoclimatology and overall ecosystem functioning. In recent times as ultrastructural details of diatom frustule has been established, it has become evident that frustule nanoscale structures play a significant role in adsorption and bioaccumulation of heavy metals. Physical processes like bioaccumulation in conjunction with cell surface ligands and functional groups allow diatoms to convert toxic forms of metals to their more utilizable forms. This unique aspect of diatom has been exploited in recent times for the synthesis of novel nanoparticles under in vitro conditions. Moreover, biomonitoring using diatoms is increasingly becoming a preferred choice for assessment of water quality due to their time-integrative characteristic. Although both these aspects include diatom and metal speciation under in vitro and in situ conditions, a comprehensive study addressing both these areas has remained obscure. Thus, the present work aims at integrating the aspects of novel metal particle synthesis and biomonitoring of habitats with diatom as the principal biological entity involved in these processes.