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What are the different types of diatom?
There are two types of diatoms found in nature. One is round, while the other is elongated. Diatoms are divided into two categories based on their form: pennate diatoms and centric diatoms.
What groups are diatoms in?
Diatoms are formally classified as belonging to the Division Chrysophyta, Class Bacillariophyceae. The Chrysophyta are algae which form endoplasmic cysts, store oils rather than starch, possess a bipartite cell wall and secrete silica at some stage of their life cycle.
What is the scientific name for diatoms?
Bacillariophyceae
Diatom/Scientific names
diatom, (class Bacillariophyceae), any member of the algal class Bacillariophyceae (division Chromophyta), with about 16,000 species found in sediments or attached to solid substances in all the waters of Earth.
What is centric and Pennate diatoms?
Centric diatoms may be circular, triangular, or rectangular, but typically have surface markings that radiate from a central area, an arrangement called radial symmetry. Pennate diatoms are elongated with surface markings at right angles to the long axis, an arrangement called bilateral symmetry.
What is the order of diatom?
Diatoms are traditionally divided into two orders: centric diatoms (Centrales), which are radially symmetric, and pennate diatoms (Pennales), which are bilaterally symmetric. The former are paraphyletic to the latter.
What is the reproductive mechanism diatom?
Diatoms reproduce asexually by cell division to produce two daugther cells by mitosis; each daughter cell receives one valve and it is reproduced by furrowing. The cell has vesicles that increase the deposition of silica creating a new valve girdle band.
What are the two types of diatoms?
Diatoms can be divided into two groups by their shapes, the pennate diatoms and the centric diatoms. Most diatoms are pennate diatoms (bilaterally symmetric), while a few diatoms are centric diatoms (radical symmetric). Unlike the plants’ cell walls that are made of cellulose, the diatom cell walls are made of silica (i.e. glass), called frustule.
What is the cell wall of a diatom made of?
Diatom cells are contained within a unique silica cell wall known as a frustule made up of two valves called thecae, that typically overlap one another. The biogenic silica composing the cell wall is synthesised intracellularly by the polymerisation of silicic acid monomers.
What are diatoms and dinoflagellates?
Diatoms and Dinoflagellates There are many different groups of phytoplankton species found in the world’s oceans, but among the most common are diatoms and dinoflagellates. Most of the species featured on this site belong to one of these two groups.
Why do diatoms have shells?
This shell formation allows the diatom to divide easily into daughter cells. Each daughter cell keeps one-half of the frustule, and then adds on more silica to form a full cell wall. After death, the frustule persists in the environment, which is where we get diatomaceous earth.