Diatoms

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Diatoms are beginning to have a wide impact on our technology and this volume details biofuels from diatoms, the industrial applications of fossil diatoms (diatomite or diatomaceous earth), and a new form of agriculture, bubble farming, aimed initially around diatom high value products and biofuel. Diatoms are single cells, an algal group in which each cell is surrounded by a silica glass shell. They appear in beautiful attractive shapes and have several uses, ranging from building materials to nanotechnology. Twenty percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by diatom photosynthesis and they feed most of the aquatic food chain in fresh water and the oceans. They serve as sources of biofuel and improve solar energy production of electricity. Some of them are among the extremophiles (living in environments of hot or cold temperatures, at extreme pH ranges, at high or low light levels, and surviving desiccation). There are about 100, 000 diatom species and a similar number of papers have been published since their discovery over three hundred years ago. The literature on diatoms is currently doubling every ten years, with over 50, 000 papers during the last decade The aim of this new book series (Diatoms: Biology and Applications) is to provide a comprehensive and reliable source of information on diatom biology and applications. The first book of the series, Diatoms Fundamentals & Applications, is wide ranging, starting with the contributions of amateurs and the beauty of diatoms, to details of how their shells are made, how they bend light to their advantage and ours, and major aspects of their biochemistry (photosynthesis and iron metabolism). The book then delves into the ecology of diatoms living in a wide range of habitats, and looks at those few that can kill or harm us. The book concludes with a wide range of applications of diatoms, in forensics, manufacturing, medicine, biofuel and agriculture. The contributors are leading international experts on diatoms. This book is written to both act as an introduction to diatoms and to present some of the most advanced research on them. Audience Researchers and graduate students in the fields of phycology, biology, marine sciences and ecology.