Iron incorporation in biosilica of the marine diatom Stephanopyxis turris: dispersed or clustered?

Iron incorporation into diatom biosilica was investigated for the species Stephanopyxis turris. It is known that several “foreign” elements (e.g., germanium, titanium, aluminum, zinc, iron) can be incorporated into the siliceous cell walls of diatoms in addition to silicon dioxide (SiO2). In order to examine the amount and form of iron incorporation, the iron content in the growth medium was varied during cultivation. Fe:Si ratios of isolated cell walls were measured by ICP-OES. SEM studies were performed to examine of a possible influence of excess iron during diatom growth upon cell wall formation. The chemical state of biosilica-attached iron was characterized by a combination of infrared, 29Si MAS NMR, and EPR spectroscopy. For comparison, synthetic silicagels of variable iron content were studied. Our investigations show that iron incorporation in biosilica is limited. More than 95 % of biosilica-attached iron is found in the form of iron clusters/nanoparticles. In contrast, iron is preferentially dispersedly incorporated within the silica framework in synthetic silicagels leading to Si-O-Fe bond formation.