#pinnularia

Fast Fauna Facts #25 - Pinnularia (Pinnularia spp.)

Family: Pinnularia Family (Pinnulariaceae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed

Found mainly in freshwater but also in marine environments and occasionally in damp terrestrial habitats, the members of the genus Pinnularia are diatoms - single celled organisms characterised by their protective silica-based glass-like cell walls known as frustules. Like plants diatoms sustain themselves entirely through photosynthesis and absorb sunlight via deposits of the green pigment chlorophyll in their cell bodies, and as the glass-like transparent structure of a diatom's frustule protects it from predators and adverse environmental conditions while still allowing sunlight to reach the cell's chlorophyll. Like plants diatoms also need certain inorganic molecules (mainly carbon and hydrogen to act as reactants during photosynthesis and nitrogen to produce proteins such as chlorophyll) to survive, and Pinnularia species these are taken in through tiny pores that run through the frustule.

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Image Source: Here

"For example, elongated, symmetric diatoms--also called pennate diatoms--often have a slit called the raphe. This slit helps the diatom move around, serving as an opening through which they can secrete a viscous fluid to glide on. One of the ways that diatoms make the raphe is by physically molding it through the arrangement of their microtubules."

Journey to the Microcosmos- How Diatoms Build Their Beautiful Shells

"Many diatoms are nonmotile, meaning they don't move around. The lack of visible movement from the outside is striking when you consider all of the activity that has gone on inside of them to make those frustules happen. Like we said earlier, they're doing more than creating a smooth, transparent surface. They're creating a molded, ornate structure personalized to their own shape, like a house couture. Not only is this process a lot of work, it renders diatoms dependent on silica, a chemical they can't make themselves."

Journey to the Microcosmos- How Diatoms Build Their Beautiful Shells

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

“Sometimes the best way to share what you’ve seen under the microscope is, well, to share the actual thing you’re are looking at.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Preserving the History of the Microcosmos With Prepared Slides

Images of Prepared Slides Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

“But thanks to the fellow lovers of microscopes and microbes out there who collect and preserve their samples, we can actually see a bit of what they’ve seen with our own microscopes.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Preserving the History of the Microcosmos With Prepared Slides

Images of Prepared Slides Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

“These prepared slides are meant to be permanent. The goal is to be able to return to them at a later date, perhaps with fresh eyes or under a new microscope.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Preserving the History of the Microcosmos With Prepared Slides 

Images of Prepared Slides Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

Journey to the Microcosmos- The Complicated Legacy of Lynn Margulis

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs