Salt water centric diatom frustule (skeleton). Diatoms are microscopic, unicellular algae that produce intricate silica (glass) cell walls that overlap like the top and bottom of a box. When diatoms die, their soft, internal parts deteriorate, leaving their hard, porous, glass skeletons behind. Diatoms are found in aquatic environments, and saltwater diatom skeletons appear in the fossil record as early as the Jurassic period (180 million years ago). In the United States, numerous deposits…
Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are among the most common types of phytoplankton.
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Electron microscopy picture of a diatom
Most of the oxygen we breath is created by microscopic algae called phytoplankton. This little beauty is a Coccolithophore!
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SEM of Diatom
Since the initial discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, about 5,000 viruses have been described in detail, although there are millions of different types. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most abundant type of biological entity.study of viruses is known as virology, a sub-speciality of microbiology.
Diatom Diatoms are unicellular algae whose cells are enclosed by a silicate shell (silicon dioxide). They live in salt or fresh water and are the main primary producers of organic matter and produce a large part of atmospheric oxygen. Scanning electron microscope, magnification 980:1 (at 12x10cm)