Effects of Different Culture Conditions and Growth States on the Structure and Hemostatic Properties of Coscinodiscus sp.

As a renewable marine inorganic material,Coscinodiscus sp.has significant potential in the field of rapid hemostasis.However,the low yield of Coscinodiscus sp.seriously limits the application.In this study,two new culture modes were adopted to increase the production of Coscinodiscus sp.,the effect of changes in culture conditions and growth status on the hemostatic activity of diatoms was detected.To prevent Coscinodiscus sp.from sinking in culture,the suspension culture mode was realized by adding0.5%agar.The semi-continuous high nutrient concentration culture mode increased the cell density of Coscinodiscus sp.to 11000cells mL^(-1)and shorten the culture cycle to 5 d.In terms of coagulation activity,the addition of frustules reduced the in vitro coagulation time by half and the activation time of coagulation by 70%.The hemolysis rate and cytotoxicity of frustules harvested in the two culture modes did not change significantly.The results showed that suspension culture mode and high nutrient concentration culture mode only changed the growth state of Coscinodiscus sp.,while the hemostatic performance remained stable.

Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Agaric-like Biomorphic TiO_2 by a Facile Method with Coscinodiscus sp.Frustule

The paper aims to expand the application of natural marine algae. Marine diatoms, which have intricate frustule struc- tures, can serve as bio-template for preparing three-dimensional materials. A simple and effective approach to synthesize the corru- gated agaric-like biomorphic TiO2 templated with frustule of Coscinodiscus sp. is reported. In the sol-gel preparation process, the titania-coating on the frustule is prepared through the deposition and condensation with the aid of acetylacetone （acac） as a control- ling agent to make the precursor Ti（BuO）4 hydrolyze slowly. The as-prepared titania-coated frustule and biomorphic TiOz is charac- terized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） attached with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer （EMAX） and X-ray diffraction （XRD）. The microstructure of the corresponding titania nanoparticles appears to be sphere with the diameters distributed around 10-20nm. The templating process is repeated for three cycles. Subsequently, the three-dimensional freestanding corrugated aga- ric-like biomorphic TiO2 structure is obtained by a selective removal in the NaOH solution. As far as we known, the 3D freestanding corrugated agaric-like biomorphic TiOz with greatly increased surface area is obtained for the first time.

Implications for photonic applications of diatom growth and frustule nanostructure changes in response to different light wavelengths

Diatoms are unicellular algae enclosed in intricate bio-silicified walls with repetitive nanostructures in a size range which makes them potentially relevant for a broad spectrum of industrial applications. How to optimize the nano-scale structures of the frustule for utilization of diatoms in nanotechnology is one of the technological challenges for these applications. Light is one of the most important abiotic factors for algal photosynthetic growth, and the frustule may play an important role in mediating light for these biological functions, as well as being central for its nano-technological applications. In this study we tested the influence of light quality on the nanostructure of the frustule of Coscinodiscus granii and compared this to growth rate response. The results showed that colored light （red, yellow, green and blue） at 300μmol photons m-2-s-1 resulted in a statistically significant change in nanostructure compared to white light. Green light at 100 μmol photon m-2.s-1 led to a significant decrease in mean frustule diameter and mean foramen diameter. Numerical simulations confirmed that the morphological changes obtained were sufficient to induce clear differences in the photonics properties of the frustule. The wavelength had no effect on the growth rate at high light intensity （300 μmol photons m-2.s-1）. However, at 100 μmol photons m-2.s-1, yellow, red-orange and green light resulted in significantly lower maximum growth rates than the other wavelengths. This response of the frustule structure to different light treatment indicates the possibility of a light-based frustule nanostructure manipulation method, which is simple and environmentally friendly.