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Micro‐photoluminescence of single living diatom cells
Author(s) -
LeDuff Paul,
Roesijadi Guritno,
Rorrer Gregory L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
luminescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1522-7243
pISSN - 1522-7235
DOI - 10.1002/bio.3118
Subject(s) - frustule , diatom , thalassiosira pseudonana , photoluminescence , raman spectroscopy , raman microscope , porous silicon , chemistry , nanotechnology , materials science , silicon , biophysics , raman scattering , botany , biology , optoelectronics , phytoplankton , optics , physics , organic chemistry , nutrient
Diatoms are single‐celled microalgae that possess a nanostructured, porous biosilica shell called a frustule. This study characterized the micro‐photoluminescence ( μ ‐PL) emission of single living cells of the photosynthetic marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana in response to UV laser irradiation at 325 nm using a confocal Raman microscope. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum had two primary peaks, one centered at 500–510 nm, which was attributed to the frustule biosilica, and a second peak at 680 nm, which was attributed to auto‐fluorescence of photosynthetic pigments. The portion of the μ ‐PL emission spectrum associated with biosilica frustule in the single living diatom cell was similar to that from single biosilica frustules isolated from these diatom cells. The PL emission by the biosilica frustule in the living cell emerged only after cells were cultivated to silicon depletion. The discovery of the discovery of PL emission by the frustule biosilica within a single living diatom itself, not just its isolated frustule, opens up future possibilities for living biosensor applications, where the interaction of diatom cells with other molecules can be probed by μ ‐PL spectroscopy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.