{"id":24359,"date":"2025-08-31T16:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T10:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=24359"},"modified":"2025-09-02T13:58:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T08:28:39","slug":"diatoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/diatoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Diatoms"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Diatoms Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A team of Indian and international researchers discovered a new species of diatom, named Climaconeis heteropolaris.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Diatoms<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are <\/span><b>photosynthetic<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>single-celled organisms.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are <\/span><b>microscopic alga<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>e<\/strong> and serve as the <\/span><b>base of the aquatic food chain.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are a major group of algae and form one of the <\/span><b>most common forms of phytoplankton.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Habitat<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are found in almost <\/span><b>all aquatic habitats,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and the ocean.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Most diatoms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> live as<\/span><b> free-floating cells in the open water,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but <\/span><b>some live on the bottom (benthos), attached<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to surfaces such as <\/span><b>plants or rocks,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or in the bottom sediment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>These surface-attached diatoms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> represent a <\/span><b>significant part of the periphyton, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which is a <\/span><b>mixture of algae, cyanobacteria, microbes,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and detritus that is attached to submerged surfaces.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to their sensitivity towards any water chemistry changes, they are excellent <\/span><b>indicators of aquatic health.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Like other algae<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, diatoms have <\/span><b>no leaves, stems, roots, or flowers,<\/b> <b>but <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><b>cell of every diatom contains chlorophyll,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the substance that is responsible for the green color of leafy plants.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are the <\/span><b>only organism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the planet with cell walls composed of transparent, opaline silica. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\">Diatom <b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">cell walls are ornamented by<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> intricate and <\/span><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">striking patterns of silica.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Each specie<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>s<\/strong> has a <\/span><b>distinct pattern of tiny holes in the cell wall <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(frustule) through which they <\/span><b>absorb nutrients and get rid of waste.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diatoms can <\/span><b>photosynthesize <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which means they can <\/span><b>convert dissolved carbon dioxide<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the water <\/span><b>into oxygen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that is<\/span><b> essential for the survival of fish<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and other aquatic organisms.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also serve as a<\/span><b> major source of atmospheric oxygen for the planet, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and a<\/span><b> key food source for higher organisms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the food chain, such as zooplankton, molluscs, and fish.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Collectively, they are responsible for <\/span><b>generating <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">up to <\/span><b>50% of the oxygen produced globally each year.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\">Diatoms also play a crucial <b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">role in the nutrient cycling <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of marine and lake waters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/city\/mangaluru\/new-diatom-species-discovered-in-udupis-estuarine-waters\/articleshow\/123605421.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TOI<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diatoms are microscopic, photosynthetic algae forming a major part of phytoplankton, serving as the base of aquatic food chains in diverse water habitats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":61563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2424,21,22,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-24359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-diatoms","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}