Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Preparation of Functional Silica Using a Bioinspired Method
Published on: August 1, 2018
Cooperation between passive and active silicon transporters clarifies the ecophysiology and evolution of
M Maldonado1, M López-Acosta1, L Beazley2
1Department of Marine Ecology, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Acceso Cala St. Francesc 14, Blanes 17300, Girona, Spain.
Abstract:
The biological utilization of dissolved silicon (DSi) influences ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. In the deep sea, hexactinellid sponges are major DSi consumers that remain poorly understood. Their DSi consumption departs from the Michaelis-Menten kinetics of shallow-water demosponges and appears particularly maladapted to incorporating DSi from the modest concentrations typical of the modern ocean. Why did sponges not adapt to the shrinking DSi availability that followed diatom expansion some 100 to 65 million years ago? We propose that sponges incorporate DSi combining passive (aquaglyceroporins) and active (ArsB) transporters, while only active transporters (SITs) operate in diatoms and choanoflagellates. Evolution of greater silicon transport efficiency appears constrained by the additional role of aquaglyceroporins in transporting essential metalloids other than silicon. We discuss the possibility that lower energy costs may have driven replacement of ancestral SITs by less efficient aquaglyceroporins, and discuss the functional implications of conservation of aquaglyceroporin-mediated DSi utilization in vertebrates.
Related Concept Videos
Secondary Active Transport
Secondary Active Transport
Active Transport
Primary active transporters, like Na+, K+ and -ATPase, directly utilize ATP to move ions across the membrane. These transporters play significant roles in various physiological processes. For instance, Na+, K+ and -ATPase maintain...
Primary Active Transport
Primary Active Transport
ATP Driven Pumps I: An Overview
There are four main types of ATP-driven pumps - P-type, V-type, F-type, and ABC transporter. All these pumps are of varying complexities and...

