This paper presents the results of a study on a sediment core obtained from the southwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. By analyzing the diatoms in the sediment, along with the productivity proxy and ice-rafted debris data, we reconstructed the regional environmental and climatic changes occurring over last 94 kyr (sea-ice expansion, periods of active ice melting, and variations in marine plankton productivity). Local warming and cooling events occurring in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene periods, as well as transgressive-regressive fluctuations in the sea level, were documented. The shift in the relatively warm interglacial conditions to severe glaciation over 34 kyr ago that occurred in the studied area of the Sea of Okhotsk was reported for the first time. The time at which the La Pérouse Strait opened, the Soya Current input began, and the establishment of modern hydrological conditions was approximately 5.6 kyr.
2019. V. 179. Art.no. 102215

Sediments from the abyssal plain adjacent to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench were collected during the German-Russian cruise for the Kuril Kamchatka Biodiversity Study, and the chemical composition, quantitative content, and species composition of collected diatoms were studied. The collected sediments are silt and clayey silt, the SiO2am and Corg contents range 7.58%–19.38% and 0.44%–1.55%, respectively. The enrichment of silts by amorphous silica indicates the presence of a significant number of organisms (predominantly diatoms) with an opal skeleton. High Corg content in sediments reflects biological productivity, which is controlled by factors such as water circulation and the distribution of nutrients. Interrelation trends among chemical constituents is investigated via multi-component statistics. Diatom assemblages reflect present-day water masses characterized by high nutrient content, surface water circulation, and sedimentation conditions for different parts of the study area. Analysis of this new data also highlights changes in the response of diatom flora due to abiotic factors.
2015. V. 111. P. 10-18.

Silaffins are involved in the formation of the cell walls of diatoms. It is known that silaffins can precipitate silica in vitro, forming nano- and micro-particles in the shape of spheres and plates containing many pores. It is important to note that the deposition of silica and the particle morphology in the presence of silaffins affects chemical and physical agents (e.g., peptides, polyamines, phosphate, nitrogen, and the mechanical changes of the reaction mixture). It is believed that silaffins act as an organic matrix for silica-genesis and that silica pore size should reflect the pattern of a matrix. Here, biotechnology related to silaffins is discussed in the context of “a hypothesis of silaffin matrix” and “the LCPA-phosphate model”. We discuss the most promising area of silaffin biotechnology—the development of production methods for silicon structures with desired shapes and nanostructural properties that can be used to create biocompatible materials.
Marine Drugs, 2013. Vol. 11(9). P. 3155-3167.